A Time for Everything
by Rooscha
Summary: Sunstreaker and Sideswipe have always been loose cannons. But, as they will learn, there is a time for everything, including falling in love. It's just that the adventure of finding her might leave them both more crazy than they started. SidesxSunnyxFOC
1. Chapter 1

Okay. Here I go. I love the Twins. They are awesome. I've wanted to write a twin-centric fic for a long time, but for some reason I couldn't do it. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are twins. They are one spark that has split. Therefore, for them to bond, they must find another spark that will satisfy their broken spark. Make sense? .5+.5=1. 1+1= Bliss. So, while this fic is a threesome-centric fic, it was vital for me to do it this way. There was no way I could give the twins separate girls. To me, there would have been too many sparks running around.

* * *

><p>Sunstreaker stood apart from the group. He was never really a part of the group to begin with, but this time he was physically separated from the group.<p>

Sideswipe brushed his spark, sending him feelings of excitement. Sunstreaker smirked as the 'going' group folded into their alt-modes and took off for the landing site. He knew what Sides was excited for. Femmes. Apparently, from the lightning fast rumors that circulated the base, there were four unattached femmes on the ship. For mechs who hadn't seen or interfaced with a femme in many hundreds of years, it was exciting news to say the least.

Sunstreaker was excited also, in the interfacing department. He and Sideswipe always worked together to get the femmes. It was Sunstreaker's job to look handsome and entice them with his body. It was Sideswipe's job to look like a friendly mech. Together, the combination was nearly perfect. Of course, they never could agree on what to do with them afterwards. Usually, Sideswipe wanted the femmes to stay and start a relationship. Sunstreaker couldn't wait to see them walk away.

But, the femmes were usually scared enough of him that they would leave of their own accord. Sides was better at hiding his need to kill. Sunstreaker could not care less about hiding his need to shed energon. He was going to do it, whether he was on the battlefield, or if he was in the gladiatorial ring. It was also no secret that Sunstreaker was only an Autobot because he was loyal to Sideswipe, who was loyal to Optimus Prime.

Sideswipe wanted Sunstreaker to intercept the incoming Autobots. He was going to put on his 'handsome and charming' face and pretend like he cared about those around him. At the very least, he was going to pretend like he didn't want to actively kill them. If they didn't scratch him, he wouldn't scratch them. That was the way it worked.

Internally, Sunstreaker smirked, at least Optimus had the insight to send the most handsome mech in the Autobot army to greet the femmes. He would certainly smile and look inviting for them. But, the mechs on board had better watch out; he was in no mood to put up with talk of their 'conquests' the femmes on board. He and Sides had gone without interface for a long time. And that made him angry. Although, what didn't make him angry these days?

* * *

><p>Sunstreaker allowed himself a smile as the personnel hatch on the ship opened, revealing a number of broad mechs. Some he knew, some he did not. But they couldn't have mattered less. What he was concerned about were the femmes. They were mixed in with the mechs, but stayed together, as femmes were prone to doing.<p>

Femmes were…wary of the twins. They weren't stupid. They could nearly feel the waves of menace coming off of Sunstreaker. With Sideswipe, it's a little different. He could hide his darker side behind broad smiles and soft kisses. There was nothing Sunstreaker could do to try to hide; he was better off being gorgeous and let the femmes know that while he was dangerous, he was also an amazing lover.

There was no doubt about that, he thought to himself as he squared his broad shoulders, smiling at the femmes. His smile only broadened as he noticed the femmes looking in his direction. He flexed his crossed arms, watching as they began whispering with each other. With femmes, it was all about making sure they knew that the twins were always available.

* * *

><p>"Well?" Sideswipe asked as the door to their shared quarters whipped open and revealed Sunstreaker.<p>

"They'll be knocking down our door." Sunny smiled at his brother, walking across the room and settling into his berth for the night.

Their room was cluttered with all knick-knacks and thing-a-ma-bobs that Sideswipe had collect on their various journeys throughout the various galaxies. Sunstreaker tolerated the junk because it made his brother smile when he recalled a memory associated with the item. If it were up to him, the only thing in the room would be paint and canvas.

A knock on the door had both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe sitting bolt upright, looking at each other with excitement. Swipe was the first one up and to the door, nearly slipping on an old tube of red touch-up paint that had fallen from its shelf.

Sunstreaker followed, but at a leisurely pace. There was no reason to make the femmes feel like he was excitable. Excitable mechs were expendable mechs, both in the femme arena and the gladiatorial arena.

Sideswipe pushed the glowing red button by the side of the door, which unlocked and opened the door with a light 'whooshing' noise. On the other side of the barrier was a little, pretty, delicate femme.

* * *

><p>Carina had experienced what the humans would have called 'a hell of a day.' It had all started with a rocky landing, meaning that she was on the hook for repairs. Oh, the life of a mechanic. It was constant work on the ship, which was nice for her. She got a little…twitchy with nothing to do.<p>

But, her luck hadn't stopped there. When she had gotten off the ship, well after everyone else had debarked, so she could examine her ship, she was told to report to Prowl's office. Well, Prowl was not in his office, but was in a meeting with Optimus Prime himself, so she had sat in the hallway outside the office for two earth hours. With nothing to do. Twitchy.

After Prowl had emerged, he had the gall to yell at her for 'eavesdropping' outside Optimus Prime's office. At which point she had snorted a very un-femme like snort and told Prowl that the walls surrounding the Prime's office were thicker than his helm. She had never seen a mech so angry that he couldn't process his vocalizations.

After being threatened with the brig and having a nice mech named Jazz come to her rescue, she was let off the hook and given a stack of data-pads that was taller than chassis to go through in the next several days.

Naturally, she had no idea where her quarters were, so she had to comm-link with Prowl to ask him (politely) where her quarters were. He told her the number and sector, but there were no numbers outside of doors. Luckily, there were sector names painted in standard Iaconian in the halls, letting her know that she was at least in the correct sector.

After dumping her datapads in the corner, she picked a door in the hallway and knocked. Of course, there was no answer. So, she quickly found herself on a downwards spiral. She was beyond tired and ready to recharge right there in the hallway. She sunk down the wall, right next to the stack of datapads. There was no way she was recharging in the hall. She had learned that lesson- after Warpath had stepped on her. Then asked her out.

She sighed, moving her head to the side in defeat. There was one more door. She stood tiredly, moving towards it. It looked for all the world like somebody had decorated the door. It was painted both red and gold. Somebody had to live here. It was far too odd for a storage door to be painted so beautifully.

She raised her hand and knocked, rocking back on her heels, waiting for a response.

* * *

><p>The femme was small and green. Sunstreaker usually hated green, but this femme looked good in green. It was a dark, hunter green, not at all like the lime green like Ratchet had decided upon. Her blue optics clashed magnificently with her green paint job. She was about ¾ their size, but seemed bigger because of her build.<p>

She had a very femme-esque build. She had a large bust, small waist and fuller hips. She looked nothing like the other femmes who had landed that day. She wasn't streamlined enough to be an administrative bot, but she wasn't big enough to be a warrior bot. She was somewhere in between.

Sunstreaker relayed this thought to his brother over the internal com-link. Sideswipe's response was so male and desperate he almost chuckled.

'I don't care if she is somewhere in between an administrative bot and a warrior bot. As long as she's in between us, it doesn't matter.'

'She looks tired. We should invite her in for some recharge.' Sideswipe turned to invite the femme in, but was surprised when the little femme opened her mouth and ruined his come-on.

"Where is room 216? I need to find it, please." Her blue optics looked up at them flatly, as though she knew what kind of conversation they were having in private.

* * *

><p>The door slid open to reveal two of the most beautiful mechs she had ever seen. They were side by side, with the red one slightly in front and the gold one in back. The red one was non-threatening, with his hands down to his sides. It was the golden one who looked semi-threatening. His optics were piercingly blue and keyed in on her like she was prey.<p>

'They look exactly the same,' she thought to herself, 'Just…different colors.' She cocked her head, looking at him with knowing optics. They were having an internal-conversation on their comm-links. How rude.

She waited patiently for the mechs to at least recognize her presence, but neither of them made any move to welcome her or invite her in. Rude.

"Where is room 216? I need to find it, please." Her tone was a tad short, but she was fed up with the rudeness of the mechs on this base. First Prowl, then these two.

The two of them took their focus off each other and focused solely on her. It was nearly overwhelming. But, she hadn't lasted this long among the warriors without having a spinal structure around such domineering personalities. She tilted her head back a fraction and crossed her arms in front of her body, waiting for a response.

Both of the mechs suddenly looked tense, but the mech in front- the red one- relaxed visibly. Then, he smiled. She was a little embarrassed to say, but her vents hitched when he smiled. He was so beautiful. The smile didn't quite reach his optics. It made him look even more handsome in a way- it made him seem like he had something going on behind his optics.

"Please come in, missy. I'm sure we will be able to pull up a map for you." The red one moved backwards, shoving paint and odds and ends out of his way, clearing a path for the femme and his golden friend.

The golden mech didn't move a cable. He stayed unmovable, faceplate unreadable. Carina moved around him, edging into the room, ducking slightly. She followed the red mech into the messy room, watching as he seated himself at a personal computer terminal in the back of the room.

"I apologize for the mess, missy. We're usually not this messy, but it's been hectic…we've had to move rooms lately." He grinned up at her before going back to his terminal, typing quickly.

"And who are 'we?'" She asked as she began to wander the room. Her femme creator had always told her how rude she looked when she let her curiosity rule, but it was a life-long habit. She always made herself at home, no matter where she was- or who she was with. It was a personality quirk that often times got the small femme in trouble.

"We, _little_ femme, are Sunstreaker and Sideswipe." The golden one answered, from where he was leaned against one of the berths. He looked at her with a disdainful optic, noseplates turned into the air.

"Well...," She paused, looking between the brothers in an exaggerated manner, "That does explain a lot." She smirked at the golden twin, who merely watched her impassively, large arms crossed over his immense chest.

The two beds, the paint splattered everywhere, the bad attitudes, the rudeness. It all made perfect sense now. The two infamous twins. Kept in the Autobot army because they were two of the best fighters Optimus Prime could ever have. But, there was always a price to pay when it comes to keeping the best. They were known for being rude, reckless and downright violent.

"Room 216 is just down the hall. I'll take you to it," The red twin, Sideswipe, stood from the terminal and walked to her, "C'mon, little femme."

"Carina. My designation is Carina." She blinked up at him, noting how broad he was.

One of those massive arms reached around her shoulders and guided her from the room. Safely past the glowering golden mech who was guarding his berth. They exited the mech's quarters smoothly, with Carina, allowing Sideswipe to guide her. While she was a cold, cruel and calculating bitch from time to time, she knew the importance of friends. Especially friends in low places. And these mechs seemed to fit in the 'low places.'

The pair walked down the corridor swiftly, although Carina was somewhat unsure of the situation. Tales of the pair had begun to trickle into her processor. Stories that were macabre and ominous. Stories that had made her shiver and have feelings of gratitude that she was on their side, instead of against them.

The one that was with her, Sideswipe, was quite the lady's man. He was known as being the more tame of the two, and therefore the femmes were attracted to him. He was a taste of danger, but still tame enough to know when to stop. Sunstreaker on the other hand was a rat-bastard. She had heard enough stories to fill a volume of Alpha-Trion's works with his exploits.

He was the gladiator. He was the one who appeared to truly enjoy slaughtering his opponents. He would stand over the top of his fallen enemy with his sword held high, smiling like a mad man. After getting out of the rings and winning his fame and freedom, he had still participated in underground fight rings, making a ton of money.

One side of her wanted to name him a cold-sparked murderer and leave it at that. But, he couldn't be _all_ bad. Some of his paintings were the most beautiful works of art that Cybertron had ever seen. Some of his sketches were so valuable that they had sold for hundreds of thousands of credits. Unfinished, rough sketches had sold for hundreds of thousands of credits. The mere thought had her processes spinning wildly.

It was said that for Sunstreaker to paint you was akin to the Prime naming you a Lord- it was one of the most distinguishing things a spark could do. Some of his paintings were hung in the Prime's offices, and some resided in the Iaconian library. What she wouldn't give to have one of his paintings, even if just for the sheer amount of credits she could sell it for.

"Um…femme?" Came Sideswipe's clear, strong timbre as he looked down at her. "We're here. Room 216."

"Oh! Sorry. I was lost in the abyss of my processor," She said bashfully as she realized that they had been standing in front of the door for about a half a breem.

Sideswipe chuckled, rubbing his large hand between her shoulder armor, "It's no big deal. We've all been known to trail off into our thoughts on occasion." He leaned down, crowding her with his chest plates in front of her and his large hand between her shoulders, "Were the thoughts of me? How about Sunstreaker?"

She laughed lightly, trying not to let on that he was entirely correct, even if was incorrect in thinking that the thoughts were inappropriate.

"Of course not. I was only thinking about how I was going to decorate my quarters. I was thinking red and gold. They seem like great colors, especially for a berth room. What do you think?" She giggled as his optics unfocused slightly, then refocused on her face.

"I think that I could personally rub some of my paint on your berth." The way he purred was definitely doing something for her, she could tell by the way her pump sped up and her optics threatened to unfocus.

"I think...no. No way." She giggled at the downtrodden look on the mech's face.

She turned, opening the door with her own pre-programmed code and stepped inside. At least this time Sideswipe stayed in the doorway. Maybe this one was not as rude as she had initially thought.

"Come in." She ordered him in with her back turned.

"Bossy femme," The femme was stunned to find that the voice was right behind her, more than three paces into the room. How had he moved that quickly? "I think that you need to check your tone with me and my twin. Surely you know the ramifications if you don't." His voice was so sexy. It was deep and smooth, but had a hard edge of male-dominance to it. She was silent for a few moments, just soaking in the sensation of his vents on the back of her neck.

"I don't want you to hurt yourself choking on those big words, sweetspark. I think that you need to stick to words that you can pronounce quickly and easily." His presence was overwhelming, he must have been as close as he could be without actually touching her.

Sweet, hot vented air reached her neck. She knew, in the back of her processor, that she should be scared of this mech. She really should be frightened. But, there was no way she was going to back down. She would never back down from a fight. It usually got her aft beaten, but there was no way she could afford a reputation as a mechanic who backed down from a fight.

"I like you."

"There you go! Use small, easy to say words! Good mech." After that jab, there was no way she could turn to face him. She would laugh in his face and while she was okay teasing the bull, there was no way she was going to wave her ire in his face.

Slowly, as if he was thinking it through as he moved, he pressed himself into her back. Wide red hands appeared on her stomach, tracing the ridges that rested there. A chin made itself at home on her helm. A small, feminine part of her processor, noted with pleasure that they fit together perfectly. Which meant that she and Sunstreaker would fit together perfectly as well.

"I can feel that you like me too, little Carina." He chuckled when she couldn't stop the tiny purr from escaping her vocals. "How long has it been for you, little Carina? For Sunny and I, it's been a while. We would more than welcome you to our berth."

While Carina would never go to a mech's berth the first night she met him, she was nothing if not a vicious tease.

"I'm not sure your berth would fit both of us, sweetspark." She chuckled as his hands ducked lower, only to be covered with her own. There was no way he was going to get a free feel. She had some amount of dignity left in her life and it would not be wasted on this randy mech.

"All three of us," He corrected with a heated vent to the back of her helm. "Both of our berths will push together and make a berth that is more than large enough for the both of us to partake in a lengthy and satisfying interface."

"There you go again. Stop trying to use big words. I'm starting to get worried that you're going to hurt yourself. Then where would we be?" She laughed softly when he nipped the back of her neck in warning.

A gush of feminine fluids told her that she was letting the teasing get out of hand. It was time to separate herself from this mech. She turned out of his grasp, with her hands still clutching his own. His optics were burning with the intensity of the Cybertronian moons. She almost- almost- felt guilty for letting the both of them get this worked up.

"Sideswipe. I will not interface with either you or your brother. Not tonight. And never with your brother. He looks like he ingested bad energon. I can't get off when somebody looks like that in the berth. Sorry." She had the good sense of processes to look contrite.

Sideswipe grimaced, shifting his stature uneasily. His hands came free of her own, which immediately rubbed his chest, right above his sparkcasing.

"Tease." His optics bore into her own, wanting her to deny it.

"Of course. What femme isn't?" She returned, squaring her shoulders, readying herself for a fight. Unlike Warpath, however, Sideswipe's faceplate broke out into an unexpected grin. It stretched across his entire handsome face and reached his optics.

In that instant, she almost regretted saying that there was no way she would interface with him. He looked so alluring, standing there in front of her. A mech she knew almost nothing about, standing in front of her, mech-handling her. And she _liked _it.

Sideswipe and Carina stared at each other for more than was necessary. Sideswipe was desperately hoping the femme would go back on her word and jump his gears. The femme was hoping the mech would simply leave, so she wouldn't have to deal with the awkwardness.

Sideswipe felt the pull of his brother's spark on his own. Sunny was wondering where he was, what was taking so long?

'You aren't screwing her, are you?'

'No.' He returned to his brother. 'I wouldn't do that to you.'

"Well, my femme, I must bid you good recharge. And I hope you find all your decorations in time, including the paint shades you need." With that, Sideswipe ducked out of the room, and headed straight down the hallway, to his own room.

* * *

><p>Sunstreaker was still wide awake by the time Sideswipe stepped out their washrack. It was one of the perks of having a brother that 'bots were uncomfortable with. Separate everything. They even had their own energon and high-grade dispenser.<p>

"So…" Sunny began, "Why are you giving me the warm-and-fuzzies if you didn't screw her?"

"I'm not all the way like you, you know. I don't have to screw a femme to like her."

"That's where you're wrong," Sunstreaker said with a smirk. "I don't even like them after I've screwed them."

Sideswipe snorted. He knew better. "So, that's why you cuddle up with them and won't allow them to go home until after they've recharged with you, right?"

Silence met his inquiry. There was no lying to the other half of your spark. Sunny knew that, but sometimes he needed reminding that there was no way Sideswipe was ever going to let him forget that he felt every emotion Sunny had.

"I just don't like her." Sunny stated, kicking back further into his berth, propping his head on his hands.

"Why not?" Sideswipe asked as he clambered into his own berth, flipping over so he could watch his twin.

"She's just…just…pushy. Mean. Stubborn. Rude. She gives me a weird vibe."

Sideswipe laughed. "She gives you…the wrong vibe? That's the funniest thing I've ever heard you say. Except that one time when you got stuck on the grate right outside the tournament grounds."

Sunstreaker looked at him sourly, the usually handsome mech's faceplate turned in disgust.

"I'm just telling you. I get an uneasy feeling about her." The golden mech stated, flipping over so his back was presented to his brother.

"I can tell you what I felt," Sideswipe said quietly, pensively. "I felt her body. It was the body of a young and beautiful femme. And I want a piece of that. So, if you please, be nice to her and maybe I'll share with you."

Sideswipe barely managed to duck the pillow that came flying at his face. He laughed loudly, knowing that his brother was perturbed by the thought of him 'doing' a femme without the golden brother. Anything that one did was immediately transmitted into the spark of the other. Therefore, having a hot and heavy interface session with any femme would be fed from one spark to the other. It would make things uncomfortable at the least, embarrassingly angry at the most.

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><p>Carina lay in her berth, thinking over her day. It had started out horribly, but ended…with her spark getting revved unexpectedly. She smiled into her berth covering. She could live with that. She might even encourage it in the future.<p>

But for tomorrow, there was a stack of datapads in the corner that was threatening to have its own gravitational pull. That would be her focus for the next couple of days, or Prowl would have her head.

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><p>Well, there it is. It's the making of a beautiful something with the twins. I like writing Sideswipe, but Sunstreaker will come in heavier later in the fic. I hope you all like the feisty and snarky Carina. Carina is the name of a constellation somewhere, so it relates to transformers. Sort of. But, there you go. I like them all.<p>

Sideswipe is very forward, but that's just in his personality. Sunstreaker is an asshole. And Carina is going to be caught in the middle of a mech smitten and a mech smote. It should be fun.

Please review. I can't know if you like it or hate it without a review. I live for them.


	2. Chapter 2

WOW! Thanks for all the faves. Now, you should be guilty that you didn't review, but I love you anyways. You know who you are. Hahahaha, just kidding. Here's chapter two. To those who did review, Thanks so much! It means a lot.

::Comm Link::

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

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><p>As the humans would say, slag had hit the fan. It was horrible. Shrapnel and dust filled the air. 'Bots were diving for cover under anything they could find. Smaller 'Bots were hiding behind bigger 'Bots. And the bigger 'Bots were swatting at the smaller 'Bots, trying to get them to go find their own cover. It was mass chaos and hysteria.<p>

The master alarm for the building was blaring, making thought processes slow and even stop. Red Alert was passed out in the hallway. One could only assume it was because his CPU crashed, but there were too many variables to be sure.

Prowl was yelling to brace the perimeter. He had a group of capable mechs with him, working to secure the perimeter. They were coming in with weapons blazing, barking orders to those mechs and femmes who were in the area.

Anyone in the vicinity was taken by the destruction that went throughout the building. The wall had been torn cleanly off, windows were broken and shattered glass was everywhere. 'Bots were shouting about bombs exploding and heretics within the base.

Only one thing was for sure. Slag, had in fact, hit the proverbial fan. There was too much dirt and smoke in the air to be sure what was going on. Prowl and his team were fighting their way through the chaos and hysteria towards the blast-zone, guns at the ready. They crept forward in a tight formation, Prowl in front, everyone else in the back.

The explosion had been loud enough to wake most of the base and get the attention of the mechs who were on duty. Therefore, virtually everyone on the base was waiting for an answer of why there was an explosion. Most were whispering about a planted bomb, as that seemed to make the most sense. There was no attack, that was certain by the way nobody was injured or screaming at the top of their lungs about Decepticons.

Prowl crept forward, then gave his mechs a closed hand signal. They stopped, waiting for whatever lay beyond the smoking mess that used to be a hallway. The noise instantly died in the hall. Mechs waited with baited breath. Femmes shivered slightly in the cool air.

*CREAK*

A few seconds went by.

*CREAK*

All of a sudden the creaking noise stopped, only to be replaced by the sound of ominous footfalls. One large pair, obviously mech. One smaller pair, a scout or maybe a femme.

Through the smoke and debris, with the dust finally settling, two shapes were able to be seen. The shapes mirrored the footprints. One was large and blurry. The other was small and blurry. Guns went up everywhere. Every soldier was ready to fight and kill their own brothers and sisters in Primus for the cause of the Autobots.

As the two figured crept closer, becoming more and more ominous as they made no noises other than their footsteps, one of the figures abruptly bent over and coughed loudly. More smoke and dirt particles flew into the air as his vents cleared. The smaller figure pulled back a petite hand and smacked the back of the larger figure's head.

Prowl motioned one of his mechs forward; the mech transformed into his jet-mode and fired his thrusters, clearing the air of smoke.

There, in the clearing, stood one mech and one femme. The mech looked sheepish and was clutching a wire that was frayed at both ends. It had obviously been forcefully separated from whatever it had been attached to. The femme carried nothing except a sense of fury that seemed to cling her like a second layer of armor.

"Wheeljack! Carina!" Shouts erupted in the hallway. Mechs were shouting obscene and rude things at the couple, making the femme bristle and yell at anyone who would listen that she was not- and never would- interface with Wheeljack.

'Bots began to trickle out of the hallway. By now, most had figured out that it was a 'Wheeljack problem.' In fact, Prowl had actually written a new code for the base-wide comm system that was a code 45. A Wheeljack problem. On top of that, there was now a code 46, which was when Wheeljack managed to blow up his lab.

::Attention Autobots. Code 46. Fire and explosion contained to hallway Gamma. Use alternate route. Any 'Bot requesting or needing medical assistance: report to Ratchet in the Medbay. Continue as you were. Prowl Out.::

The announcement rang throughout the base. It had two distinct effects on the inhabitants. Some were relieved that the Decepticons were not attacking. Others were furious with Wheeljack and were threatening his safety and livelihood.

However, none compared to Carina, who was busy screaming at the mech in question.

"You are the most inconsiderate, idiotic, waste of metal I've ever met! They call you an engineer? They told me to come see you because you are 'brilliant.' You know what I think?" Carina's small femme finger was pointed in Wheeljack's faceplate. The mech was nearly cowering; his ear finials were bright red, flashing as he tried to speak. "I think that you are brilliant, 'Jack! But you don't use your processors. You could have killed somebody today! You could have killed me!"

Just like that, the little femme seemed to deflate. Her hands went to her helm, like she was trying to keep her processor from slipping between her small fingers. She curled in around herself, shoulder hunching. A small moan of pain slipped out before she could stop herself. Within seconds, Prowl descended on the couple. Before he could cite them for endangering Autobots and civilians, Wheeljack spoke.

"Carina. I'm sorry. I honestly didn't think that plugging this wire into the project would cause that level of explosion. Although, given the polarity readings and the crystalline structure, I should have thought about the probability ratings of the vibrations of the electricity going through the crystal and acting as a catalyst to the fluid inside the tubing." The mech paused, obviously deep within his own twisted and mad processor. "OH! Carina! I think she's hurt."

Wheeljack put his arm around her shoulders, keeping his wire tightly clenched in his fist. Wheeljack turned his face towards Prowl, who looked as though someone had put oil in his morning energon. Any expression from Prowl usually meant that someone was going to end up in the brig for at least a few hours. And judging by his optics, which were angry little slits, if he had his way it would be the both of them in the brig.

"For now, both of you need to report to Ratchet." Prowl's clipped tone let everyone in the area know that the mech was not happy. "Report there immediately. Red Alert, please escort them to Medbay four. Ratchet has been informed of the incident and is waiting." With that, the black and white mech turned on his heel and stalked towards the massive hole in the base, which was being surveyed by Optimus and Ironhide. His doorwings twitched in irritation as he walked away.

Carina moaned again. In part, she moaned because of the pain. In part she moaned because Prowl was now going to attempt to shove his foot up her aft for the rest of recorded history. He already thought of her as a pile of slag. Now, he must regard her as the sludge from the bottom of the energon mines.

Wheeljack helped support her all the way to the Medbay. They had to walk down six flights of stairs because the elevators were still being installed. Which made her groan. The elevator installation was her project. She had been on her way to fix them when she had realized that she needed a very specific attachment to her socket wrench to fit into the back divot of the elevator. Without it, she would have had to climb up under the elevator shaft, which sounded a little dangerous to her.

Needless to say, she probably would have been better off getting under the elevator. She had been standing right next to Wheeljack when he had plugged in his 'project.' It looked like something the horror writers on Cybertron would have loved. It was made of green fluorescent liquid and twisted tubes. When he plugged the wire in, there was no warning. Just a small popping noise, followed by an explosion to rock the entire base and lots and lots of really hot fire.

How they were still alive, she'd never know. How everyone survived in the hallway? She'd still never know. All that mattered was that everyone was alive. If they hadn't been alive, there would have been a code 13 called over the intercom by Prowl to alert the medical staff. Therefore, everyone was alive. Hopefully she'd survive, but her helm was throbbing and her arm was stiffer than usual. She probably jammed the gear in her tumble to the floor, although her fall was assisted by Wheeljack, who landed on top of her. Probably to 'save' her.

Wheeljack was uncharacteristically quiet on the journey to the Medbay. Red Alert was trailing behind the two of them, twisting his helm occasionally in an attempt to smooth out his neck joints, which took the brunt of his fall. Doubtless he was coming along to get checked out by Ratchet also. Prowl may have been an emotionless, harsh and cold drone, but he was no one's fool. The mech sees and hears everything that happens on base.

They reached the pristine white doors of the Medbay. The Cybertronian glyph for 'Medical Attention' had been painted beautifully on the doors. The doors slid open per a proximity sensor that had been installed- probably by Wheeljack himself. At least that could work without being in danger of blowing up at any given moment.

Medbay 4 was all the way at the back of the facility. It was one of the more private sections of the Medbay. Ratchet had been able to design the 'Bay himself and it showed in its ingenious design. It was designed like a wheel, with hallways as spokes and beds in the 'pockets' in between. Some of the 'pockets' were large and were able to fit about twenty mechs and femmes at a time. In between battles, these were used as out-patient areas. Cuts, scrapes, minor welding and touch ups were done here. The rest of the pockets were divided into ten or fifteen private exam rooms.

They happened to be in the private section of the Medbay, meaning that they were either being shielded from 'Bots demanding 'Jack's helm on a platter; or they were in for a full exam. Carina desperately hoped it was the first option. Ratchet's exams were…painfully awkward. The mech had almost no inter-personal skills and was great at sticking his fingers in your plating without warning. And he had some of the coldest digits of any 'Bot she'd ever met.

The door to Medbay four slid open ominously slowly. The private bay was deathly quiet. The only sound was that of machines beeping and blipping in time to spark rates and energon readings. Ambient yelling and talking could be heard through the walls, coming from the other bays. More than likely the fall-out from the explosion; little nicks and scrapes being attended to by Moonracer and the other nurses and medics.

Ratchet was indeed waiting for them on the side of the doors. His normally bright white coloring looked dull and dirty. Carina had heard a rumor that Ratchet and Moonracer had a pit of a fight just a few orns prior to the explosion. Ratchet simply looked as though he had not been attended to by his femme for a few orns. Which probably put him in an even worse mood than usual. Great.

Carina straightened, dropping her hand from her helm and moving swiftly to the side of Wheeljack. The medic and the engineer had been friends for a millennia. There was no telling or predicting what Ratchet was going to do with Wheeljack. Given his penchant for throwing wrenches…and missing his target, Carina stayed as far away as she could. To their surprise, Ratchet was surprisingly nice and professional. For now.

"Carina? Door four, please. Wheeljack, Red Alert, five and six." With that, the medic stalked out of the room and on to more important things. Obviously Ratchet didn't think that anyone was in sort of real danger from their injuries.

Carina entered room four cautiously. It was a typical examination room, but was set up for a much longer stay than a simple exam room. It had an energon dispenser and a small side table for personal effects. It almost made her laugh, but for a soldier, it was probably down-right cozy. She clambered onto the berth, feeling like an overgrown sparkling.

Instead of laying down, which seemed silly, she sat upright and started bouncing her feet off the edge, making contact with the table with each bounce. Metallic clanking noises filled the small room, turning it from silent to noisy in a matter of a few moments.

"Ooooh. Stop it! Some 'Bots are trying to recharge in here!" The disgruntled moan and shout of a nearby mech set her temper soaring.

"Get over yourself, you pile of slag. All mechs ever think of is themselves. I swear to primus." She muttered the last little bit, waiting to see if she managed to bait some poor fool into a verbal sparring session. It was one of her favorite pastimes, after all. A few seconds passed in silence.

"Carina? Is that you? What are you doing down here in the Medbay? Are you hurt?" The last question rang out much louder, like the person was startled. Carina looked around the small room, trying to place both who the disembodied voice belonged to, and where it was coming from. She realized that the walls were temporary and were able to be pushed back to open into the adjoining room. She hopped off the berth and found the hidden finger holds and pushed the door back. On the other side of the partition was Sideswipe.

"Wow. You look like slag." She said cheerily, leaning against the newly made doorframe. He did look like slag. He was covered from head to foot in dings and dents, half his leg was nowhere to be seen. One of his hands was missing two of its digits. In short, he looked like he'd gone five rounds with Unicron and barely lived to tell the tale.

"Gee, Carina. Nice to see you too." His optics brightened as he looked her over. He made no secret of checking her out. His optics swept her form from top to bottom then from bottom to top. He smiled when he met her optics again, but it was predatory and sensual. Not at all friendly and relaxed like most mechs would smile at her. She was too…mean for most mechs. They looked at her like they would a wild animal. Beautiful, but likely to rip your face off.

But Sideswipe? He seemed to like calling her bluff. He seemed to know that she liked him and was willing to let him get away with things that most mechs would have been yelled at for. He settled back against his berth, patting the space next to him and moving over minutely for her. Carina hesitated, shaking her head. He looked intensely disappointed and moved back to the center of the berth.

"So…I'm guessing Unicron backed over you?" She asked, settling back comfortably.

"Naw. I got into a scuffle with a couple of Decepticons while out on patrol. It was four against one. Hardly fair, but I still managed to slag them all." He smiled impishly, seeming very satisfied with himself. "It was a pit of a fight. I was the best of the bunch, though, love. Don't worry about me. But, I am worried about you. What brings you here?"

"I was sort of standing next to Wheeljack when the lab blew up. It's a miracle I'm alive and functioning, actually." She smiled sheepishly at his look of alarm and panic. "I'm actually fine. My helm just aches a little bit, but I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. You look disgusting. For Primus' sake, femme. At least wash and wax once in a while." The cold, clipped voice rang out in the empty room. Sunstreaker. How lovely.

"Shut up, Sunny! She just survived a code 46. Give her a break. Usually she's shiny and ab-so-lut-ley beautiful." Sideswipe smiled up at her, an apology for his brother shining brightly in his optics. She nodded at him, letting him know she didn't blame him for his brothers complete lack of kindness.

"Humph. Now, femme. Please leave. I need to tend to my brother's wounds and make sure that he's not rusting." Even with Sideswipe's cries of protest in the background, Sunstreaker moved threateningly towards her. She moved swiftly back into her own room, keeping at least a meter between the gladiator and herself. She loved fights…verbal ones. Carina knew she stood no chance against a mech who had fought for his life in the gladiatorial circuits.

Her back hit her berth, but Sunstreaker kept moving forward. Her venting nearly stopped, fear filling her. Vaguely, she could hear Sideswipe's threat to his brother. She heard Sideswipe shift, his one leg hit the metal floor with a loud thump. She could see over Sunstreaker's shoulder. Sideswipe had pulled himself up onto his foot, and was hobbling around the bed in an attempt to get to them. His three fingered hand was braced on the bed. She could see energon pooling around his remaining fingers, reflecting the overhead lights.

Sunstreaker was right in her faceplate now. She turned her face sideways in attempt to show some submission and to try to get her face out of his chestplates. It made no difference. Sunstreaker kept pressing forward until his chassis resting lightly against the side of her face. Carina was struck by how much taller the twins were than herself. And how broad they were. She could fit herself into Sunstreaker's chassis, quite snuggly. Inside, she was torn. He truly was the most gorgeous mech ever built. Her body was reacting to his presence, there was no denying it.

But, he was downright frightening. He oozed menace and darkness. If she would have had to guess what his park looked like, she would have said it was dark. Dark, black fire. There was nothing else it could look like. He was nothing but mean and rude to her. Ever since the twins had left on their scouting missions, the hallway had seemed so peaceful. No loud Sideswipe, no bitter and angry Sunstreaker. But, she hadn't missed the anger and the bitterness. She had only missed the boisterous presence of Sideswipe. The only thing Sunstreaker was good for was optic-candy.

Carina jumped back into reality when Sunstreaker's hand reached towards her cheek. She jumped, but had nowhere to go, so she landed right where she had started. Sunstreaker's hand met her helm with a warmth and tenderness that almost frightened her more than if he had been cold and rough. His fingers cupped her helm tenderly, moving her head so her noseplates were pressed into his chestplates.

"Hmmm…Maybe she's not so dirty after all. What do you think 'Swipe? Want her between us after you recover? I think she'd look great sandwiched between the two of us. We'll soap her down in the washracks and let the solvent run over her. After we've got her clean, we'll pin her to the wall and wax her down. Then she'll be ready for the most intense interface of her life." All the time Sunstreaker was talking, Sideswipe was struggling towards the pair.

*WHAM*

A red hand punched the side of a golden helm. The golden twin let go of her abruptly, turning towards his crimson twin. Sunstreaker laughed, fingering the dent on the side of his perfect helm before tackling his twin. The two grappled on the floor, blows more vicious than need be for a playful fight between friends.

"You AFT! You scared her!" Sideswipe could be heard in the ruckus.

"She liked it! Look at her optics. They're dilated. She's aroused!" The golden brother yelled back.

The fighting stopped as Sideswipe, who ended up on top, looked Carina straight in the optics. She was still frozen, back against the berth, attempting to process what was going on around her. Sideswipe's optics widened. It was true, then. She must be showing outward signs of arousal as well as feeling arousal.

Sideswipe for his part, was becoming aroused just by looking at her. She had seemingly swelled in her armor, filling it out a little more. Her breastplate looked higher and her hips fuller. Her optics were dilated and were turning a dark purple around the edges. His rod thumped against its housing, letting him know that it was ready when he was. But, behind the arousal was a little fear. Her pose was rigid, her arms crossed around her middle. Her hips were squarely under her chassis, instead of turned alluringly to the side. Sideswipe growled lowly in his throat, turning back to his brother.

"She's still scared, you aft-shaft! You scared my femme. I should kill you. If we didn't share a spark, I would!" And just like that, the fight was back on, fists pulling back and releasing. Bangs and clanks could be heard reverberating in the room. Carina grabbed her helm again, the pain that brought her here in the first place reappearing with a vengeance.

The door to her room bounced open, revealing a gently smiling Moonracer. The smile slid off her faceplates when she took in the twins duking it out on the floor and Carina's frightened and painful posture.

"RATCHET!" Moonracer yelled, jogging to Carina's side and helping her onto the berth and into a more comfortable position. Completely ignoring the twins wrestling on the floor, Moonracer efficiently placed an energon drip in her arm and attached the necessary sensors. When Ratchet came into the room, not a word was spoken.

Ratchet walked towards the twins, who had comically paused, limbs akimbo. Sideswipe had the decency to look sheepish. Sunstreaker looked completely impassive. Ratchet reached down with one massive hand, grasping Sideswipe and hauling him to his foot. With Ratchet escorting his brother, Sunstreaker jumped to his feet gracefully and milled about. Pointing a threatening finger in Sunstreaker's face, Ratchet left without a word.

Moonracer crossed to the barrier, slamming the accordion door in Sunstreaker's faceplate. Carina then got to spend the next earth hour or so being examined by Moonracer. There were tests done to her optics and her audios. She was asked to wriggle her feet and her digits. She had to stick out her glossa and get her energon drawn for testing.

"Well, Carina. I'm sorry it took us so long to get to you. We're having to make three new limbs for patients. But, everything checks out on you, sweespark. However," Moonracer looked her in the optics, her motherly gaze hardening slightly. "We're going to keep you here overnight. Relax and recharge for the night, then in the morning Ratchet will come examine you and you'll be let go if you check out. Okay?"

At Carina's nod, Moonracer's hand gently pet the top of her helm in a motherly way, before leaving the room. Unfortunately for Carina, she was now hooked to the monitors in the room, which meant that she couldn't move more than a few feet away from the berth. So, it looked like she was in for the night. As her recharge programs began to start up, she heard a ruckus from Sideswipe's room. From the commotion, she guessed he was getting a new limb. It sounded…painful.

When it seemed to be over, the room was silent again… for a moment. The soft patter of feet was coming towards her. She regulated her venting, desperate to appear like she was in recharge. The wall between Sideswipe and herself opened slightly. Silence.

"'Rina?" Sideswipe whispered to her turned shoulder from the barrier.

"Yes?" She whispered back.

The pattering of feet came towards her and a weight settled on the edge of her berth. Sideswipe's heat was sinking into her shoulders, relaxing her. She knew she should be angry with his presumptuousness, but she actually liked him. Maybe she should start being nicer to the mech. Only him, though. The rest she could still be mean to.

"How're you feeling?" Sideswipe asked, sounding concerned.

"I'm fine. How're you?" He chuckled, moving a five fingered hand onto her shoulder, cupping it gently.

"I have two legs and five fingers on each hand. I'm better than I was, sweetspark." She turned her head so she could see his optics. They looked soft, tender. Almost as though they had been doing this for a millennia; being tender, sweet with each other.

"Sideswipe?" She waited until he nodded, then continued. "Get off my berth. I need to get some recharge."

He smiled, jumping off her berth and bowing before traversing into his own room. She couldn't help but notice that he left the wall open about a foot, giving them a connection. He could see her and hear her and vice-versa. Contrary to making her feel creeped-upon, she actually felt safer for it. And after that fight between the twins, she didn't need to worry about Sunstreaker.

'I really, really, hate that stupid mech. But, I really, really like the other one. So it goes…' She thought, turning towards the wall and starting her recharge programs.

* * *

><p>TA-DA! Love and such is going around. Sideswipe and Carina getting cozy. Only then can Sunstreaker have his shot. Thanks so much for the reviews! I promise I'll respond to all the reviews I get for this chapter! So, please review. I love suggestions, so bring them on and we'll have a dialogue or at least a friendly word or two! Thanks, darlings.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Sunstreaker is really hard to write. Sorry this took so long. Also, I know nothing at all about elevators, so just go with me, okay?

* * *

><p>"You do realize that I'm likely to not get anything done with that one in tow, right?" Carina said snottily, tossing a thumb over her shoulder. Prowl looked unimpressed, doorwings immobile, icy blue optics locked onto her own deep blue ones. There was such a lack of passion in those optics. It almost made her shiver. She had a reputation of being a stone cold bitch, but Prowl made her uncomfortable. She really had no idea how Jazz could love such a mech.<p>

"Fine. I'll take him. I just hope you know that there's a pretty good chance one or both of us will end up dead at the end of this job."

"I hope you realize, little femme, that this is your punishment just as much as it is Sunstreaker's. So, the both of you will turn, walk out of my office and go to fix the elevators. Understood?" Carina waited a few seconds and nodded, having decided that it wasn't worth the fight.

Sunstreaker must have nodded also, because Prowl stood, gesturing with one wide open hand towards the door.

Carina sighed, picking up her small bag of tools and left the office without bothering to look and see if Sunstreaker had followed. She made a bee-line for the elevators. The faster she got there, the faster she would be done with her punishment and the faster she could get away from tall, dark and scary.

He was so amazingly attractive, but he scared the ever loving slag out of her. His brother, however, was one bucket of rusty bolts that she wouldn't mind polishing. Over the last week or so, Sideswipe and she had gotten to know each other fairly well. They had served some shifts together and had even gone so far as to have evening energon with one another. In all honesty, it was the most she had done with a mech in her entire life.

Carina stopped in front of the elevator in question. It was larger than a personnel elevator and slightly foreboding. It was tucked in the very back of the complex, hidden from most 'Bots. It was the freight elevator for the entirety of the building. It could hold supplies, injured 'Bots and a stretcher. It was foreboding because it was dark and had a chain link barrier instead of a proper door. It didn't help that it was parked in the basement, making it damp and cold.

She shivered before remembering Sunstreaker. She turned her face towards the handsome golden mech. "Well, C'mon." And she stepped into the dark confines of the elevator, she was acutely aware of the large, dangerous presence pressing in on her.

"Look. If you'll just sit in the corner and be pretty, I'll go ahead and do my job and then we can both go home. Okay?" Sunstreaker simply looked back at her with a blank look on his faceplates. He was rather good at that. To her surprise, instead of merely following her directive and taking the easy way out, he stood stock still.

"I'm here to help you, _little_ femme. What kind of a mech would I be if I sat around and let the poor, defenseless femme do all the work? Besides, what you do is already considered to be mech's work. I wouldn't want to perpetrate the rumors flying in the rec room." Sunstreaker moved forward, crowding her against the wall and taking her toolbox from her, setting it on the ground. A flash of hot anger surged through her frame before she could help it.

"Then I suppose you really should talk to your twin. He seems to love my boyish charm." With that, she leaned down and pulled her socket wrench from the tool box, turning to the gunmetal grey panel inside the elevator.

"Witty." Was the sarcastic reply from the golden twin.

* * *

><p>Three hours later saw the two of them working together in relative peace and harmony. That is to say, neither one nor the other was actively screaming or fighting.<p>

"Wrench."

"Wrench."

"Drill."

"Drill."

"Bit."

"Bit of what?"

"Drill bit, dummy!"

"Drill bit, dummy."

Carina looked up from her tinkering with annoyance shining brightly in her optics. Due to the nature of the paneling, she had to stick her head down and forward into the inner workings of the wiring. She could actually see where the bottom of the elevator shone through to the floor. She was desperately hoping to be done soon. Her back was sore and she was tense from trying not to fall through the small hole.

Sunstreaker merely smirked his devastatingly aft-hole-ish smirk at her, before leaning back against the interior of the elevator. When he had learned that the project was going to take several hours, the pompous mech had decided to sit and be in charge of her tools. Which meant that he was splayed out on the floor of the elevator with her toolbox in his lap. For the mechanic, this made quite an arousing site. One that could have easily been photographed and put into a calendar for her to enjoy.

It was hard for her to admit, so she wasn't going to, but with Sunstreaker's help, the project was moving along quite nicely. Despite the few insults they had tossed back and forth, there was no denying that the golden mech was much more intelligent than he let on. He could locate which tool she needed quickly and seemed to anticipate her needs. It was actually….nice to have someone to work with. With her head stuck back inside the pesky panel, Carina made a face. 'Nice?' It was 'Nice' to have a mech helping her work? Gross.

With one last push, the stubborn wire clicked into place. Standing upright for the first time in hours, she stretched and let her weary joints creak and groan. Beside her, Sunstreaker also got to his feet, waiting patiently beside her.

"So…are we done?" Sunstreaker's tone was flat and uninterested. Carina turned, facing the intimidating mech faceplate to faceplate.

"Not quite yet, Sunshine. We still have a couple of wires to replace and some connections to look at." She completely ignored the mech's incensed growl at her misuse of his designation. "Unfortunately for us, that means that we have to get under the elevator. Which is going to be fun, considering that the only way to get under the elevator is to open the little hatch on the floor."

Sunstreaker looked at the floor with one optic ridge raised. He located the small hatch, which was barely visible. One of his large feet traced its outline, noting how narrow the panel was. Their optics met, one knowing the solution, the other wanting to know.

"I'll have to lean out of the hatch. Hopefully you won't make any stupid moves, lugnut. If you do, I'll fall to my death and your twin will be very sad. And hopefully, very angry. Then, you can join me in pit." To his credit, Sunstreaker merely laughed and set her toolbox back on the floor.

"I don't think you'll ever have to worry about Sideswipe killing me, femme." The way he sneered the word 'femme' made her gears twitch. "He loves me much, much more than he will ever a love a femme. All he likes to do is frag them and toss them out. He's planning on doing the same to you." At her hurt look, Sunstreaker chuckled darkly. "You must be a femme after all. Only femmes cannot hide their emotions."

Carina shook with anger. How dare he? How dare he shove her affection back in her face? Sideswipe would have never been so forward and out rightly mean. Sideswipe wouldn't make love to her and then 'toss her out.' Would he? Maybe he would. She had no idea, but it did not make Sunstreaker's rudeness acceptable. Carina moved forward, keeping her fists clenched tightly by her sides. There was no way she was going to let this turn physical.

"You are the meanest, most cold mech I have ever had the displeasure of meeting! I like to match wits with anyone, but even I have to have some common decency! If I didn't, Prowl would have tossed me out on my face long ago! What makes you so special that you can around sulking and being such a pain in the aft? Why do 'Bots put up with you?" Sunstreaker remained silent, unmoving, with his arms crossed over her chest.

"Here's the bottom line, you useless sack of slag. After we are done in this elevator, I will never speak to you again. I expect you to have some semblance of decency and return the favor. Go ahead and keep spreading rumors about my being a mech. That doesn't bother me. But how dare you bad mouth your own brother!" She had gotten so close to the mech that it would have been impossible to slip a sheet of cardboard between the two of them.

With her tirade over, but her body still buzzing with energy and electricity, Carina pulled open the panel on the floor and pulled her toolbox closer to herself. She lowered her upper body into the tiny hole, balancing carefully on her legs. When a weight settled over her calves, she started and whacked her helm into the underside of the elevator.

She pulled herself out of the hole, looking back at her legs. The golden mech had seated himself again, but had spread his legs out, leaving his calves draped over her own. It was intimate. Too intimate for her, but they weren't fighting at the moment and that was good enough for her. Besides, he may even be trying to help her. Not that he could actually think deeply enough to be helpful. Mechs were stupid.

Carina quickly went to work. After a few breems, she had to admit to herself that it was nice to be able to relax her lower body a little bit. At first, she relaxed her muscular cables only a little bit, unsure of Sunstreaker's reaction. For all she knew, he would just let her slip through the hole and hit her helm on the hard concrete below. So, bit by bit, she relaxed her lower body. To her surprise, for every little bit she gave up, Sunstreaker took the slack. His legs tightened little by little on hers. It was so much more intimate than she could have ever thought possible.

Carina was one of those girls who talked a big game, but had nothing to back it up with. It all stemmed from when she was stuck on the ship. She had been a blossoming young woman at the time. Being young and flirtatious had led to being pursued by much older mechs. There had been some awkward moments in the beginning, with Carina trying to be what the mechs had wanted, but she quickly found that mechs were rough. She needed something a little gentler than a giant mech hand shoved in her…

She shook her head within the hole, knowing that she was walking down a dark path again. She'd rather not take a trip down that lane. It was always better to take the high road. The high road never flooded or got too dark.

But, when she had found out that the other femmes her age were getting intimate with the mechs, it was much easier to pretend that she had no problems being intimate with any mechs. Luckily for her, some of her best friends on the ship were mechs, who covered for her. It was immature, but seemed to have worked out well for her. If she had admitted to being an untouched femme on a ship full of randy mechs, she would have been tormented. By being a sarcastic and angry femme who was fine with having interface with most mechs, she took the mysterious edge off.

With Sideswipe, she felt the inklings of lust. He was one hot mech. He was cute, funny and mischievous. The only problem in the relationship was her commit-a-phobia and his twin. The twin who was currently keeping her anchored to the floor. That sounded different in her head. But, still. If it wasn't for Sunstreaker, she would have been flat on her back in Sideswipe's grasp, letting him do whatever he wanted to her body. She just had issues committing to people. People sucked. It was really all _his_ fault.

She shook her head again. She could not go down that path again.

* * *

><p>An hour later saw Carina finally pulling her upper half out of the hole. Her hands immediately found the small of her back, rubbing at the plating vigorously. She let her helm fall forward naturally, letting the struts of her neck relax. She hated projects like this. Her hatred for Prowl only grew a little more with each moment she had worked with her body leaning dangerously out of the elevator. She vaguely recognized that Sunstreaker's legs were sliding off her own. She turned her face to see where he was. She didn't quite trust him all the way.<p>

Brilliant blue optics met dark blue ones. It took her a few astroseconds to realize that his face was far too close to her own to be acceptable by society. She also realized that she could not discern the look in his optics. It was far away and slightly haunted. But there was a also a hint of confusion within the depths. She didn't get to dwell on his optics for long, because his lips met hers before she could pick apart the emotions fully.

For a while, it seemed as though he was merely testing her with the kiss. It wasn't uncommon for first kisses to be questioning, but testing? Although, it was also common to be involved emotionally or physically with someone before the first kiss, so there was no reason to put this kiss within normal parameters. She was so stunned that she couldn't make a single move. She should bite him, curse him or anything. But instead, she was frozen.

And from her frozen fingers slipped her socket wrench. When the wrench fell from her grasp, Carina pulled away from the mech, following the path of the wrench. To her horror, the wrench fell into a group of exposed wiring near the floor. Within seconds, the lights in the elevator cut out. For a few spark wrenching moments, there was silence. The only light in the elevator was of their optics, wide with fear on Carina's part, and wide with shock on Sunstreaker's side.

Then, there was a feeling of weightlessness. They were falling. It was a safety feature of all the elevators within the base. When there was a power outage, the elevators would all sink to the lowest floor they were able to go to. Unfortunately for them, she hadn't been able to re-run the software on this elevator, which would have reset it. The reset would have allowed the elevator to slowly glide to the basement. Without the software, the elevator was careening towards the basement.

Sunstreaker's gladiator reflexes kicked in. He recognized that the femme was in the most danger because she was the smallest and weakest of the group. While he normally would not have protected the weakest member of the group, he would not be able to live with himself if he let this particular femme die. To his chagrin, he found himself becoming fond of her. He actually kissed her.

He leapt, knocking the femme onto the floor, but into his arms. He rolled, allowing the femme to rest on top of his chassis. Impact hit right after he rolled. They hit the floor with jarring force. Sunstreaker's back panel dented inwards, putting pressure on his spark casing. Carina almost flew from his arms, but the pain from his spark caused him to shudder and his muscles to spasm. His arms only tightened around the femme, leaving dents in her own chassis and arms.

After a few moments of harsh venting, Sunstreaker sat up. The pain in his spark was astounding. He had been dealt softer blows meant to kill him in the gladiator ring. Despite the pain in his own chest, he was much more concerned with the small femme in his arms.

"Are you o..kay?" The words were broken, raspy. It was obvious that he was in pain. Carina nodded vigorously in his arms, not trusting herself to speak. She was shaken, but functioning. The impact had jarred her processors, and Sunstreaker's arms had given her a few little dents, but other than that she was fully functioning.

She tried to turn in his arms, to face him. Sunstreaker hissed at her, his Alpha male programing kicking in. She immediately showed him her throat, submitting to him entirely. Sunstreaker visibly relaxed, allowing his vent fans to vent hot air across her frame. She leaned into his heat, coming to her senses enough to know that it was far too cold in the basement.

"Are you hurt badly?" Carina asked, knowing that he was hurt enough to kick in his Alpha programming, but not knowing the extent of the damage. Sunstreaker shifted, so she continued to let her head rest on his shoulder, keeping her throat exposed to him at all times. It would be counterproductive to both of them if he got himself more hurt trying to get her to submit to him.

"My spark casing is bent. I've sent a communication to Ratchet. He's sending Prowl and Red Alert to come and get us out of here." He groaned and growled when she shifted and tried to look up at the ceiling. She dropped her head immediately at his growl. Her submissive programming had the flagged the situation as dangerous enough to be submissive to the only Alpha male in her area.

"I think we're too low for them to open the elevator doors. They're going to have to manually pull us up. It's going to take a while. Can you hold on?" Her voice was garbled and sounded choked, but she had to keep her throat back, or he was going to fritz. She damned both her programming and his own. She knew it was there to protect her, but it was still annoying. And it could only be overridden by a medic.

"I'll be fine." He paused, shifting again, trying to take pressure off his spark and its casing. "You're too cold. You're shivering." At his words, Carina realized that she was, in fact, shivering. Her core temperature had dropped approximately six degrees in less than a breem. At this rate, she was going to be in worse shape than Sunstreaker before they were rescued.

Carina carefully shifted, curling her frame into a small ball, cradling herself into his chestplates. He hissed, but she couldn't help but snuggle closer. She was so cold and he was so warm. She snuggled in closer, ignoring his growl of warning for her own comfort and warmth. One giant golden hand settled around the scruff of her neck, squeezing warningly. Her optics offlined against his throat and her body went limp in his grasp. They stayed this way for several moments, until Sunstreaker was satisfied enough to let her go. They sat in silence for several more moments, with his hands wrapped around her waist.

All of a sudden, there was shouting. It was grating on her audios, but she knew that it meant help. A few moments of shouting and panic were followed by the feeling of being lifted, slowly and jerkily. Heat exploded within the elevator, along with light. Distantly, she realized that the mechs outside were using a torch to cut into the doors. Which meant that they were moments from medical attention.

The doors were wrenched open and she was separated from Sunstreaker's grasp. She whined and tried to reach out to him, only to be blocked by larger mechs. She vaguely realized that Ratchet was cradling her to his chest plates and that Sunstreaker was being supported by Jetfire. Warpath was using his massive strength to hold up the elevator until the both of them were able to be lifted out.

Ratchet's jarring footsteps were making her processor mad. All she needed was to see and hold Sunstreaker again. Her submissive programming was still flagging him as the Alpha male in her situation. Ratchet 'shushed' her as they strode purposefully toward the Medbay. She kept getting glances of golden armor out of the corner of her optics.

Sunstreaker, for his part, was fighting Jetfire tooth and nail to see and touch his femme. They were trying to keep him away from her, but he needed to make sure that she was safe and warm. He distantly realized that Jetfire was shouting at him to stop fighting him so they could keep up with Ratchet. He kept her foot in his vision the entire way to the Medbay. It was the best he could do and the least that his processor would be satisfied with.

The doors to the Medbay slipped open and Ratchet wasted no time in ordering tests and setting them in a room.

"Uh, Ratch? Shouldn't we put them in separate rooms?" Jetfire asked, as Sunstreaker was fighting his way towards Carina, who had just been set upon the nearest berth.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because Sunstreaker's Alpha programming is running in full force. It is no doubt his own feelings for the femme and his twin's feelings helping his natural instincts. Her programming is only reacting to her fear of the situation, nothing more. It will be easier to unlock his programming if he stays near to her as we treat them both."

"Ah. Gotcha." Jetfire himself had never felt that strongly about a femme, so he let it go and helped Sunstreaker onto the berth.

Ratchet washed his hands in the sink and grabbed up a syringe and a vial of liquid. With a deft slash, Ratchet had a syringe brimming full of slightly red liquid. With an eerie quietness, Rachet snuck up behind the befuddled mech, who was still trying to clamber onto the med table with Jetfire's help. With one precise movement, Ratchet had settled the syringe in between Sunstreaker's neck plating. With Sunstreaker going limp, Jetfire scooped up the mech.

"Go ahead and put him in the next room over. I'll see to him right now." With that, Ratchet left the room, yelling for Red Alert to go into Carina's room and look over her.

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><p>CLIFFIE? Not really, but sort of...Sorry it's so short, but I needed to get this out and I'm tired. Because of this, it isn't edited at all. Please forgive me. Thank you all so much for the reviews! Please keep them coming. I always get motivated by reviews. Reviews also make me want to write better, so please review. I love a story alert, but a review is nice to go along with it. Also, when a femme it in danger, her submissive programming comes into play. She attaches to the nearest Alpha in the room and sticks with him. And vice-versa. I think this is my own concept, I haven't seen anyone else use it. If someone else had this idea before me, sorry to them. So, This was the real start of a couple of plot lines and some action. Thanks for reading! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Here we go...

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><p>The beaker hit the wall with a loud crash, leaving a trail of greenish yellow sludge following in its wake. The mechs in the room paid it no attention. They had a much bigger yellow smear to deal with.<p>

* * *

><p>"Sunstreaker! You must get in control of yourself right now!" Ratchet snarled, as he pinned the golden mech to the berth.<p>

"Let me see her!" Sunstreaker had by-passed rationale. He was deep in his programming. There were shouts for sedatives and for Sideswipe. It might take both to calm the mech.

"Carina is in the showers, Sunstreaker. She is being well taken care of by Moonracer. A femme. There is no threat to you." Wheeljack was trying to rationalize with the mech, unknowing that Sunstreaker had surpassed all rational processing.

The other mechs could tell Sunstreaker that there was no threat to the femme or to his claim on her, but his mind would not let him rest until he could see it with his own optics.

Sideswipe had left the Medbay for only a few breems, to retrieve energon and ask Prowl to commute their time in the brig for a few days. Now, he was running back to the Medbay to try to rein in his brother.

It was Sideswipe's own fault that Sunstreaker was even experiencing this programming. He had allowed his own feelings for the feisty femme to slip through the bond to his twin. Sideswipe had the ability to rationalize a little bit better than his brother, when it came to matters of the spark.

The gladiator inside of Sunstreaker was the ruling personality inside of him. Sideswipe knew that there was a softer side to his brother. Inside the stone cold gladiator was a loving and supportive mech. Unfortunately, life in the gladiatorial ring was not a glamorous and yielding lifestyle. It was harsh and brutal.

Sideswipe knew that there was a need to break through the gladiator, but right now, they just needed to calm down the melee warrior.

Sideswipe allowed his feet to run to where his twin was struggling against his medic. It was easy to allow his body to take him to the other half of his soul. It was innate. It was instinctive. It was just like they had been doing since they were sparked.

"Sunny! Bro! Chill!" He announced as he burst into the 'bay. Over their bond, he sent a feeling of tranquility and of inner peace. Sunstreaker turned reddish optics towards his twin, focusing solely on the feelings coming from the bond.

"Where is she?" He roared at his twin. "Where?" Ratchet and 'Jack were both holding one shoulder of the melee warrior, attempting to hold him at bay. Luckily, Ratchet had the forethought to disengage his weapons programming.

"Sunny. She's with Moonie. Warming her frame in the washracks. There's no need to freak. She's safe. You're safe. Disengage your programming. You are stronger than this. Don't let your emotions rule you." Sideswipe's optics cut into his brother's. Blue met reddish brown. Many things were said, but nothing was uttered.

There was no need to have words between the two of them anymore. Swipe stepped forward and placed one hand over his brother's spark chamber. Sunstreaker's optics offlined as he tried to get in control of his emotions. Sideswipe did what he could, sending waves of surrender and love to his brother. Sideswipe had always been pivotal in calming the demons within Sunstreaker, but it seemed that this time; he had caused the demons to awaken.

A sense of calm came over Sunstreaker and he allowed himself to go limp in the embrace of the mechs around him. Ratchet and Wheeljack kept hold of the mech until they were certain that he was not going to try to attack again. Ratchet gently loosened his grasp, guiding the yellow mech back to his berth, where Sunstreaker sat upon the berth like a defeated mech. His entire posture screamed that he had just fought Unicron and the Fallen. And survived. But, he didn't want to. His back was against the wall, legs drawn up to his chassis and his helm in his hands.

"What's going on in here?" Moonracer's lithe form was in the doorway, one hip gently resting on the frame. In her hands was a chart, but she seemed less than concerned. The femme behind her, however, was eyeing the chart like it held the answers to life.

"Moonracer! Give me that damn chart!" Carina growled, making another swipe for the data-pad. However, her joints were still weak from being frozen and then thawed. She felt weak as a rusted bolt, but she needed to know what Moonracer had written down.

"Carina! You don't need this chart. There's nothing in it that you need to know. Stop being irrational and go lay down on your berth. It's the third door on the right. I turned the heater on before we left, so it's ready for you. Go recharge." Moonracer's only movement had been to bring the chart closer to her middle, protectively.

Ratchet's optics were honed in on his mate's. They hadn't been bonded for almost five hundred years for nothing. They could read each other like an unlocked data-pad. She needed to tell him something. Something about Carina. Interesting.

Sunstreaker's helm came bobbed up marginally. His optics onlined slowly, as his helm rose from his hands. Hearing Carina's voice had reignited some of the fire in his optics, and Sideswipe immediately felt the rush of desire and protectiveness through their bond.

Sideswipe moved to his brother's side and sat down next to him, throwing his arm around Sunstreaker's shoulders. To Carina, it looked like the two brothers were relaxing and supporting each other. In reality, Sideswipe was anchoring his brother to the berth, as well as sending him calm emotions.

Ratchet strode forward, getting so close to Moonracer that their chassis nearly touched. Whatever bonding issues they were having would have to be put aside for the sake of their patients, but Ratchet was not making any apologies to his mate.

Ratchet smoothly slipped one arm around his mate and the other around Carina, gently ushering both the femmes out of the room. The door swished shut behind the medic, leaving the twins to themselves on the berth.

Wheeljack bounced nervously on his feet. His fins were dark, but his entire body screamed his discomfort with the situation. He stared at the door for almost a breem before glancing towards the twins. Two sets of optics were glaring at him blantantly.

"I guess…I'll just be…going. Then. Okay."

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><p>"Carina. You should have told us."<p>

Ratchet and Moonracer were towering above her berth, casting her in shadow. Carina felt like a sparkling again. Here they were, her sire and her femme creator, both intent on punishing her and letting her know that they were disappointed in her.

"I…didn't want to worry anybody. It's my own problem. No one else's. Therefore, you both should just turn around and walk out of here." Moonracer and Ratchet exchanged a dark look. They were both moving their helms a little bit, making them look like tiny bobble headed dolls. Carina nearly giggled aloud. Bonded pairs looked so funny when they were communicating over their bond.

Ratchet sighed loudly, signaling the end of the conversation. Moonracer placed one small hand on his forearm, before gently slipping out of the room. Ratchet watched her leave, and the softness to his optics made Carina look twice at the medic. Like most of them, there were more layers to him than met the optic.

"Carina. I must impress upon you the severity of your lie of omission." Ratchet's soft blue optics hardened quickly to a deeper, darker blue.

"I must impress upon you that your scans were insufficient to pick it up in the first place." Carina smirked, settling back against the wall, arms folded snugly around one knee. Her posture belied the sense of shame and guilt she was feeling. She should have told them, but weakness wasn't usually tolerated in war. Not even among the Autobots.

"I am usually somewhat dependent upon my patients telling me if they are in pain. You, however, have inspired me to delve deeper into any little femmes I may come into contact with." Ratchet stopped talking, taking in her devil-may-care posture. "If you're in pain, why didn't you come to me? Why not Moonracer? We can help you. We can fix you."

Carina thought about it for a moment. Ratchet and Moonracer had proven themselves to be decent 'Bots with decent sparks. Maybe it was time to come to terms with her problem.

"I'm…afraid." At Ratchet's upturned optic ridge, she bristled. "Yes, Ratchet. Even I have feelings. Fear is one of them."

"Why are you afraid?" Ratchet's gaze was sharp, his optics busy searching hers.

"Because," She stopped, thinking about what she wanted to say to the medic. "Because…I don't want to be tossed away. I'm not suffering through that again."

Ratchet continued to stare at the young femme before him. It occurred to him that none of them had even bothered to learn of her past. All they knew was that she had shown up on the latest transport ship. Before that…nobody knew.

"I don't know where you came from before, or what you've been through, but there's no reason to worry. We'll never abandon you. You'll always have place among the Autobots. So long as you pledge allegiance to our cause and to the Prime of Cybertron, you'll be safe with us."

Ratchet's optics were bright and his posture had straightened marginally. He seemed to have swollen in his armor, making him seem more like a proud warrior than a medic. Although, Carina reasoned, he had probably seen his fair share of battles, seeing that his best friends were Ironhide and Optimus Prime.

Before she could think of a reply to Ratchet's pledge, the door slid open once more, presenting Moonracer. She beckoned Ratchet with a twitch of her finger. Ratchet followed his mate dutifully, leaving Carina to her thoughts.

* * *

><p>Sunstreaker vented. His shift in the command center was almost over. He had less than half a breem left sitting in front of this vid screen. In half a breem, he could be in the washracks, having Sideswipe help get this slag out from under his armor.<p>

Apparently, being in the medbay for three orns was not enough punishment for Prowl. As soon as he had been released, Prowl had sent him an updated schedule of his punishment. It consisted of shifts in the medbay, shifts in the command center and shifts in the outdoor firing range. Hence, all the slag under his armor.

After this shift, though, he was out from under Prowl's tyranny. Until the next time that Sideswipe manages to talk him into another prank.

"Sunstreaker. Your shift is up." Ultra Magnus' regal voice echoed slightly in the large room, from his chair in the center of the room.

Sunstreaker nodded his head, standing and gathering his meager belongings before heading straight for the washrack. Lucky for him, Sideswipe was already there, picking slag out of his own armor.

Sunstreaker, who had training in finding anomalies, could pull shifts in the command center, but Sideswipe had been stuck doing a double shift in the field.

"It's about time you got here." Sideswipe had presented his back to him before he had even set foot into the washrack. A long, thin branch had wedged itself near its spinal relay. Sunstreaker grimaced, knowing that it was causing his twin a fair amount of pain and suffering.

He stalked forward until he was under the shower head. The solvent immediately started foaming and catching in the grime that had accumulated on his frame. He sighed as it began dissolving what it could.

Sunstreaker grabbed the branch, readying himself and his brother to pull the offending branch out. He braced himself on his brother's shoulder, steadying his grip.

"Seriously?"

Sunstreaker turned to look at the intruder. Sideswipe yowled. The branch snapped off halfway.

"Oh, slag!" Sunstreaker exclaimed, realizing what he had done. Immediately, he was on his knees, examining the branch that was still stuck in his brother's spinal relay.

"What the hell did you do, you pit spawn?" Carina's voice came from just above him as she too hit her knees beside the red mech. Her slender green digits joined Sunstreaker's bulky golden ones, framing Sideswipe's wound.

"I turned when someone interrupted us so rudely." Sunstreaker growled, surveying the mess he had made of his brother's back.

"Oh. Like slag. It's not like I walked on you two interfacing or anything. Stop being so dramatic and help Sideswipe." Carina snarled right back, her small digits digging into the gap beside Sideswipe's relays. "I think he needs to go see Ratchet."

"We're not going to go see Ratchet." Sideswipe nearly moaned, digging his fingers into the wall in front of him. "We're not. Going. To see. Ratchet."

"Maybe we should, 'Swipe."

"Maybe we should, Sideswipe."

Both Sunstreaker and Carina looked at one another sharply.

"No! Just somebody yank it out. It's not that deep." Sideswipe braced himself, one large foot making purchase on the floor behind him, the other braced in front of him.

"I can do it." Carina said, looking over at Sunstreaker. He looked back up at her.

'Wow. He's really handsome. And really close to me.' Carina thought. She immediately recoiled, feeling like her personal space was being invaded.

"Fine. Try not to dig into to his relays." Sunstreaker said, moving to stand. He took his brother into his arms, pulling him into an awkward side hug.

Carina wedged her fingers into Sideswipe's back, knowing that she had one shot at this. With solvent pouring down her frame, she concentrated. Once she had made sufficient purchase on the branch, she scooted herself onto her aft. Once seated, she braced both her feet on the wall and pushed with all her might.

With a sickening slurping noise, the branch came free, along with a large quantity of energon. Carina, a victim of physics, ended up flat on her back on the floor of the shower.

"I didn't think I'd ever get you on your back, femme." Sideswipe's handsome baritone landed on her audios like a soft balm. She had to admit, she liked that mech a lot.

She sat up, allowing her legs to stay sprawled in front of her. The floor beneath her was disgusting. It was grimy, nasty and altogether making her feel femininely grossed out. She lifted one hand off the floor, only to see a trail of slime drip to the floor.

The two mechs standing above her were absolutely no help. She had expected Sunstreaker to be an aft, but she had expected Sideswipe to be somewhat chivalrous and at least help her off the floor. Instead, she was glaring at both mechs as they enjoyed their uproarious laughter at her expense.

With a huff, she struggled off the floor, slipping onto her front as she went. When her clean front hit the disgusting mess that the mechs called the floor, the twins broke into more peals of laughter.

When she made it to her feet, there was no way she was going to face those bastards. With a huff, she swelled in her armor and stalked towards the exit, dripping slime all the way. She only made it about two thirds of the way before a pair of hand seized her arms.

The pair of hands were mismatched, one red and one gold. The smile on the red mech's face was handsome and broad, but the smirk on the gold mech's face took her breath away.

Sunstreaker must have been the most handsome mech she had ever laid eyes on, but he had the personality of a mechano-puppy that had been hit one too many times. Sideswipe, on the other hand, had a great personality but was boyishly handsome. Together, they must have been unstoppable with the femmes.

"C'mon, 'Rina. Let's get you cleaned up. You can't get out of here and let that slag dry on yourself. It'll crust over and take off your pretty paint." At the suspicious look Carina was giving Sideswipe, he shrugged. "I'll be a perfect gentlemech. I can't speak for my twin, however."

When Carina looked to Sunstreaker, he merely rolled his optics and departed from the group, heading back to the stall that they had occupied previously. He grabbed a scrub brush and began to scrub under his armor with vigor, dismissing both Carina and Sideswipe without words.

Sideswipe, on the other hand, gently guided Carina back to the shower stall and ducked her under the solvent. Sunstreaker moved back and turned on the spigot directly beside the one they were using. This let more than enough solvent to cover the trio.

Carina knew that she should play maidenly. She should slap his hands away and go to the stall next to theirs. She should dutifully wash her own plating and not become more attached to these two than she already was.

However, when she felt caring hands caress her plating, she couldn't help but sink into their embrace. At some point, Sunstreaker had joined in the fun, and all three of them were cleaning each other.

Of course, she had helped other 'Bots clean their plating and she had also been tended to. It was simply what was done. However, there had never been hands this gentle. There had never been touches this light. When the washing was done, she was lovingly toweled dry.

There was no need for words. They were all silent. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were silent also. There was no tell-tale head bobbing. There was only silence.

There was no telling why she stayed. There was no telling why they both tended to her. Sideswipe, sure. Sunstreaker? That was unexpected. Ever since they had engaged Alpha and Submissive programming, things had been very awkward between them. They had been almost friendly. Civil, even. It was starting to weird her out.

While their gentle hands rubbed her frame clean of any stray droplets of solvent, she couldn't help but be lulled into a recharge-like state. She should have been ready to interface. She should have been producing so much lubricant that it would have been leaking down her thigh. And yet…She was tired. She wanted to curl up and sleep.

She was nearly limp, locking her joints to keep from hitting the grimy floor again. Both of the mechs were being gentlemechs. They stayed far away from any lingering touches, using only what was needed to dry her, and nothing more.

Suddnely she realized. She trusted these mechs. That was the only reason she was on the verge of recharge. She shouldn't trust them. Sunstreaker was a gladiator. Tales of his slaughter reached far and wide. Sideswipe was a greedy feminizer. He was only after money and femmes. But, she couldn't help it.

Maybe it was because of her past. Maybe she was finally ready to open back up and trust again. Without trust and love, she had become a cynical shell of the femme she used to be. Maybe these mechs could help her. If she even wanted to be helped. She hadn't been able to figure that out yet.

Carina's optics began to dim, signaling that her recharge programs were taking over, regardless if she wanted them to or not. Gentle hands grasped her behind her knees, swinging her into a golden embrace.

"C'mon. Let's take her to bed." The red mech said as he started down the hallway, leading the way.

"Bet you'd never thought that you'd say that without the femme having an open port, huh?" Sunstreaker teased as he cuddled the green femme to his chest, uncaring that their color schemes clashed horribly.

"I had hoped, that one day we may have been able to bring a femme to our berth for nothing more than comfort. Maybe we've finally gotten a chance at happiness." Sideswipe answered honestly, letting his emotions rule him for once.

"I don't know if I can do this." Sunstreaker said, his faceplate dark as he gazed at the femme in his arms.

"I know. I'll try to help." Sideswipe said, resting one hand on his brother's arm. "We'll make it through this. Hopefully, in the end, we'll have a little femme sandwiched between us. Hopefully we'll have her port open by that time."

"Is that all you think about?" Sunstreaker asked as they stood outside their room.

"No. Sometimes I think about how long it's been since we cleaned our room." Sideswipe said as the door opened to show the utter chaos within the room.

"Maybe we should clean before she wakes up."

"It might be too late." Carina's soft, sleepy voice wafted up from under Sunstreaker's chin. "The good news is that I'm too tired to care."

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><p>I must say. I'm very confused. I have so many story alerts and favs, but so few reviews. I'd like more. I don't understand. Please? All I request are a few more reviews. Tell me what you like. Tell me what you didn't. Tell me what you want. Tell me what you want. Tell me you hate me. Tell me you like cookies. Just review.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

I'm not dead yet. Just real life biting me in the aft. I'm taking 18 units and looking at 21 next semester. It's going to be rough, but I won't abandon this fic. It's kind of my favorite right now. Also, Sunstreaker is a bitch to write. But, I like him. Please excuse how short this chapter is. It simply didn't lend itself to being long. It needed to be short. And please, please, please review. They make me write a lot more!

XXXXXXX

"Oh. Dear Primus." Carina's voice echoed throughout the room. "Did you two let something die in here?" Disgust flooded her voice, edged by sleepiness.

"Maybe."

"It's Possible."

Carina onlined her optics, taking in her surroundings. She knew where she was; she just could not figure out that smell. There was no way that smell was here when they had put her down to recharge. She would have noticed that. At least, she hoped she would have noticed *that* smell. It was rancid. She didn't even want to know what could ever make that smell. After a few moments of complete silence, she spoke again.

"Sideswipe. Sunstreaker."

"Mmmm?"

"Yeah?"

"Get out of this berth. Find the smell. Eliminate the smell. Come back to the berth." Carina's optics were attempting to scan her surroundings, but there were two giant chassis in her way. The red chassis was behind her and the golden chassis was in front of her. All things considered, even the smell, it was a pretty nice way to wake up. And apparently, the mechs in her company thought the same thing.

Sideswipe stretched while Sunstreaker curled into her. Then, Sunstreaker stretched, while Sideswipe curled into her. She smiled, unable to help herself when the two brothers acted so incredibly docile and cute. The two fierce warriors, the two mechs who could crash Red Alert's systems in six seconds flat were cuddling her in their berth.

Sunstreaker's giant leg rested gently on her calf, but was sliding silently towards his brother's leg. Carina smiled into Sunstreaker's chassis, knowing where this was going to lead. Her peaceful morning was about to come to a violent end.

With a graceful push, Sunstreaker's leg stiffened and kicked out at Sideswipe. Sideswipe, who was not ready for the attack, grabbed onto Carina, who grabbed onto Sunstreaker. Together, they tumbled to the floor. They landed in a large pile of sleepy and irritated mech and femme. Unluckily for Carina, she was sandwiched between two hot slabs of mech. They were not exactly light, either. They're warriors, built to pack a punch. So, she was effectively being crushed.

Even more unluckily for her, they couldn't have been less concerned about her at that moment. Both the mechs were swiping at one another, tossing each other and rocking back and forth. Little Carina was stuck between the much larger mechs as they laughed and attempted to attack each other.

While she was tempted to yell and fume at the duo, their laughter was infectious. Especially Sunstreaker's. She had heard Sideswipe's laugh more often than she had heard Sunstreaker's voice; but Sunstreaker rarely smiled, none the less laughed. It was a shame, too. Sunstreaker was even more handsome when he smiled and his laugh was deep and rolling, almost alluring. Carina was sick of his smirk, but she couldn't get enough of his real smiles.

Sideswipe distracted her by grabbing her shoulders and rolling, using her as a femme-shield. Sunstreaker grinned, making him look at least two hundred years younger than he was. (And about two hundred times more handsome!) He pounced, pinning both Sideswipe and Carina to the floor, using his arms and legs to pin Sideswipes' arms and legs so he couldn't seek revenge.

This move put Sunstreaker's chassis resting marginally above her own, with Sideswipe pressed against her back. The sound of hot air venting was nearly echoing around the room. All of sudden, all playfulness vanished from the air. In fact, the air seemed to thicken.

The laughter ceased. Two pair of optics brightened, while one pair dimmed. Three cooling fans clicked on at nearly the exact same moment. Heat was pouring off all three frames, raising their own temperatures and helping to boost the temperatures of the others in the room.

Carina's optics had dimmed to the point of almost complete darkness. It had been five hundred years since she had been touched by anyone other than a medic. Even then, she had been uncomfortable. So this, while being nice, was also kind of scaring the crap out of her.

Sideswipe, below her, surprised the slag out of her by kissing the back of her neck with hot, open mouthed kisses. Her mouth plates opened in a silent moan, it felt so slagging good. His knees moved out from under hers, spreading out to cradle both her and Sunstreaker. The shift caused her hips to drop, along with Sunstreaker's. Sideswipe's hot groin plating hit her own, making her gasp and buck her hips into his. Sideswipe chuckled into her audio.

"You seem a little warm, femme." Sideswipe said, as he gently pressed a kiss to the side of her helm.

"I can tell you exactly where she's hot, brother." Sunstreaker said, looking Carina straight in the optics. Her spark froze in its casing. The mechs were way too close for her to be comfortable. Their words were inflaming her, making her spark sing but her processor bolted. So, Carina did the only thing she could think of under such stressful circumstances; she bolted.

With an undignified scramble, she pushed the stunned Sunstreaker off and made a break for the door. She didn't get but a step from the mechs when a large red hand grabbed her ankle strut and pulled her back to the floor. With a thud, she hit the floor, face down. Her processor raced, trying desperately to think of a way to get away from the warrior pair.

Neither of the mechs moved for almost a breem. It was obvious that they were communicating with each other about what had just happened. Both were concerned that they had done something to upset the small femme. Sunstreaker was worried that he had unintentionally ground against her and scared her, while Sideswipe was wondering if his big mouth had gotten him into trouble. However, Sunstreaker was allowing annoyance to creep into his processor. They had been so close to getting somewhere extremely nice with the femme.

Carina, for her part, was mortified. She was a fully grown femme. There was no excuse that she could come up with to repair the damage she just inflicted to their relationship. She growled into the cold, soothing floor. These two were the best things to happen to her since she was very young. And she very well could have just ruined everything.

"I'm sorry." Sideswipe's admission was startling. Not because of the words, but because he sounded so meek and unsure of himself. Even Sunstreaker threw him a look of complete confusion, tinged with disgust. Carina was silent for a few moments, allowing her some time to process what had just been said.

"For what?" Carina asked. She wanted to know what the red twin was upset about. It was better for her to know exactly what he was thinking, so she grovel at their feet when this was all over- and know what to say. Sideswipe looked to his brother, shame deep in his optics. He obviously couldn't look at her while his pride was being rubbed in the dirt.

"I shouldn't have spoken. Sometimes my glossa runs away without me. I mean, some femmes don't like mechs to speak. At least, not like that. I'm sorry." The mech knew he was rambling, but so long as the little femme was listening, he'd talk. At least it meant that she was still in his presence. And that was a win in his book. He was pretty desperate for this femme.

Carina was silent, faceplates still pressed to the floor, Sideswipe's hand still wrapped around her ankle. She didn't know what to think. She had bolted, because of her own insecurities, and these mechs thought it was their own fault.

She slowly sat up and Sideswipe let her ankle strut go. When she had settled on her aft, she folded her legs under her body, letting the two mechs know that she would be staying for a while. Her hands were folded in her lap, giving her an unthreatening and demure appearance.

"I think…I think that I owe you two an explanation."

"You think?" Sunstreaker, apparently, did not have the same gut-reaction that his brother had. Carina's optics met Sunstreaker's. There was a moment of near panic as Carina realized that Sunstreaker was angry.

An angry gladiator was not something that she had predicted she would have to deal with when she onlined. An angry, aroused gladiator was probably worse than just an angry one. Apparently, she was going to find out.

Sunstreaker rose gracefully, his lithe body showing latent strength. Sideswipe made a grab for his twin, but Sunstreaker easily dodged, which wasn't surprising, considering that Sideswipe was still on the floor. Wait. So was she. Shit. That was not a good place to defend herself from.

Sunstreaker began to advance on Carina. His large yellow shoulders eclipsed the lights on the ceiling, casting her in darkness. His optics were bright, throwing a blue tinge over her green body. She had never felt so threatened in her life. There were many times her mouth and temper had gotten her in dangerous situations, but she'd never been against a gladiator. And, she'd never been without back-up.

The only back-up she had was currently sitting on the floor, looking as dumbstruck as she felt. Which was absolutely perfect. Lugnut. He was the one Bot who could really help her, and he was struck deaf and dumb.

Carina scrambled to her feet, but because the floor was uncovered, she scrambled for purchase on the slippery floor. As she struggled to lower her center of balance, Sunstreaker grabbed her with more force than was necessary.

His huge hands encircled her waist and hauled her up against his chassis. Fear was now firmly attached to both her spark and her processor. Her optics were dilated as far as the shutters would allow them to go. Was this really the same mech who had protected her so fervently only a while ago? The one who had held her and fought for her?

"Put. Her. Down." The growl bit through the tension in the room, making Sunstreaker and Carina look over at the bright red mech. Sideswipe's optics had brightened to the point of looking nearly white. His fists were clenched by his sides, his thighs spread wide, feet braced into the floor. A fighting stance.

Carina was skeptical. These two mechs were twins. They were basically the same being split into two bodies. There was no way they could ever really fight each other. Scuffles, sure; but a full on fight? Never. Besides that, Sideswipe was a merchant by trade. His job had been to sell the paintings that Sunstreaker had painted. There was no way he could take on his brother. Sunstreaker smirked and dropped Carina to the floor. However, he left his hands on her waist, keeping her from hitting violently.

"Are you angry with me, brother? Here I am, threatening your femme. Does that make you upset?" Sunstreaker goaded his brother, pushing Carina away, but much more gently than she could have expected. Her aft hit the berth. She desperately wanted to run for the door, but she needed to stay. She was the reason they were fighting.

"Oh, Sunny," Sideswipe returned, visibly relaxing, "Don't pretend like you don't have any feelings for her. I can feel it over our bond. I can see it in the way you look at her. You've never thrown a fit when a femme backs out of our berth. Don't pretend like that hasn't happened before either."

"I only care for her because of *your* Primus forsaken bond feelings! If it wasn't for you and your inability to regulate your emotions, I wouldn't have ever gotten into this with you or with her. I would have been perfectly fine watching you and her develop a relationship. But you had to pressure me to start a relationship with her too!" Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were creeping towards each other slowly, until they were less than a few feet away from each other.

Carina, meanwhile, felt like a knife was being driven into her spark. It would have been much easier to ignore what the mechs were saying, but the words dredged up older pains. Pains that she would have been much happier forgetting and moving on from, but that wasn't possible for her. And listening to Sunstreaker say terrible things about Sideswipe and indirectly, herself, only made her past come forward.

Sideswipe threw his head back and laughed to the ceiling. The noise was anything but the warm, rich tones she was used to hearing from him. It was almost frightening. It was a cold, cruel laugh that sent chills down her spine. She wrapped her arms around herself to try to keep the cold out, but the chill was internal and couldn't be chased away.

"You say that, Sunstreaker, but there's no way that could be true. I feel what you feel. You're emotions fuel my own and vice-versa. There is no way your Alpha-programming would have turned on if you hadn't felt something for her too. And my Alpha-programming didn't kick on when I watched you grab her." Sideswipe's optics found Carina, still huddled around herself and looking like Prime had run her over.

"I knew you weren't going to harm her in any way. I could only be certain of that if I felt the emotions from your side of the bond. If it was only my emotions, your aft would have been on the ground a long time ago." Sideswipe said, placing a hand on Sunstreaker's shoulder, squeezing him gently. Sideswipe looked at her again, taking in her state of affairs.

"C'mon, brother, our femme is a little worse for wear. And it's all our fault." Sunstreaker, whose back had been towards her during the entire exchange, turned his head toward her. His optics were dim, his shoulders looked considerably lower than she remembered them being. It was alarming to see the normally aggressive mech looking like she looked and, for that matter, how she felt.

Sideswipe, with one arm slung over his brother's shoulders, walked the both of them towards where she was leaning against their double-wide berth. Once they were within touching distance, one of Sunstreaker's arms and one of Sideswipe's arms reached out and pulled her into their embrace.

She had to admit that it was awkward. They were a trio who were not the most in touch with their emotions. So, having so many emotions expressed in one short morning was bound to cause some awkwardness. All three of them were stiff within the hug. Carina nearly giggled. It was like hugging two giant, inflexible trees.

As the hug went on and on, Carina stewed in the awkwardness. Sideswipe, as per the usual, was the first one to break the tension between the three of them. He turned towards Carina, and smiled his brilliant smile. There was a moment of peace and quiet until Sideswipe opened his mouth plates.

"So…where were we?" He said suavely as he pressed his chassis against her own and brought his arms around her. His mouth plates closed over her neck and collar armor. While the whole thing was no doubt Sideswipe's great idea to try to get her back in the berth, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Sideswipe!" Carina reached up and pushed the mech's helm out from under her chin. "Nuh uh. You don't get to partake in the goods after a traumatic event like that. Maybe some other day. But not today. I've got a helm ache." She gave him her best seductive smile before bracing her arms behind her and pushing herself up onto the berth.

"Well, then, what are we going to do today?" Sideswipe whined, obviously already back to himself. Carina glanced at Sunstreaker, who still looked a little downtrodden.

"I don't know. I'm seriously considering going to back to berth. I could use a little more recharge, especially considering that we've all got the day off." Carina flashed both of the mechs a brilliant, but partially fake smile.

"Sounds good to me." Sunstreaker finally spoke, rolling his shoulders and looking a bit more like the proud and deadly gladiator she had come to tolerate.

Carina scooted back until she was in the middle of the berth and patted the berth invitingly as she settled on her side. She waited as both of the mechs clambered onto the berth, looking a little less than graceful. She smiled, trying to put the fight behind her.

To her surprise, it was Sunstreaker who settled in behind her. Last night Sideswipe had liked to cuddle up with her, and Sunstreaker liked to be as far away from her as he could get before he went to bed. Of course, they had ended up tangled together when they woke up, but it was still surprising to her.

Sideswipe sprawled out on his back, inviting her into his side with an open arm. Carina took the offer graciously, placing her head in the crook of his shoulder and throwing one leg over the top of his. Sunstreaker then cuddled up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into him slightly.

Carina smiled into Sunstreaker's shoulder. Sunstreaker really was trying. This was him trying to make up for being an aft. And, it was working. So far, he seemed to be a much more complicated mech than even she imagined. But, here he was, for all his rudeness, curled up into her.

Carina settled down as Sideswipe turned the lights off and the trio settled down for a long, luxurious nap.

"Okay. Seriously. One of the two of you has to get up and get that smell out of here. And if the smell is coming from one of you two, please leave."

XXXX

As they lay in the twilight between in stasis and being fully alert, they had all come to the same conclusion. When they all woke up and things were settled a little bit, they were going to have to sit down and have a nice long chat. They were going to have to drag out all of their pasts and deal with the insecurities that went with them. They were also going to have to figure out if they were officially an item. Of course, that was more a Carina issue. As far as the two mechs were concerned, she was officially their responsibility.

XXXX

Please review. They make me happy. And they help me be a better writer. Is this fic doing it for you all?


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, Jazz!"

The saboteur looked up from his high-grade, leaning back casually in his chair. His optics were hidden by his visor, but Sideswipe could tell that the mech was suspicious.

"What's up, my mech?" Jazz asked, using his foot to push the chair opposite himself out, allowing Sideswipe to take a seat. "I did happen to hear that you and your brother have been courting a little bitty evil femme."

Sideswipe laughed lightly, taking the seat offered to him, but remaining empty handed. High-grade would be a danger to him at the moment. It was best to be completely sober when dealing with the saboteur. Otherwise, Primus have mercy on your spark.

"It's complicated right now, Jazz-man."

"Complicated…how?" Jazz asked, taking a leisurely sip of his high-grade.

"Complicated as in…Sunstreaker is on board by a thread, the femme won't let us touch her, I'm on my last nerve with both of them arguing, Sunstreaker is mad at me for being so passive." Sideswipe leaned forward, looking Jazz in the optics. "So, complicated, complicated."

Jazz chuckled lightly, his grin threatening to take over the room. "I hear ya', I hear ya'. It's hard enough to make a femme and mech relationship work, none-the-less a mech-femme-mech relationship. And, for that matter, mech and mech relationships are hard, too. Ah, Primus. All relationships are hard as pit. But, I getcha."

Sideswipe looked around the rec hall, taking note of the mechs in the room. Hound, Smokescreen and Cosmos were all gathered around one small table, playing a game that resembled poker in some aspects. All in all, a very safe crowd.

"Jazz, I need a favor." Sideswipe said, leaning in again. "A really huge favor, actually." Jazz glanced around the room, taking in the same information that Sideswipe had just processed. A safe crowd, indeed. No higher-ups, not even any officers outside of himself and Hound. Excellent.

"What kind of a favor?" Jazz moved his chair to the side, scooting marginally closer to the vibrant mech.

"The kind of favor that could land both of us in the brig for a very long time."

"Those are my favorite kind of favors. They're the ones that pay the most." Jazz grinned, settling back into his chair.

"Okay. Here's my need." Sideswipe took a deep breath. "Carina's files have huge missing chunks. We're talking about blacked out, missing information. I need to know what is in those sections."

"And what is your offer?" Jazz asked, his visor glinting under the soft lighting of the rec room.

"Sunstreaker and I are prepared to offer twelve cubes of our special high-grade and two shifts of your choice for us to take on." Sideswipe paused and leaned back in his chair, knowing that the saboteur couldn't resist the offer.

"So…you and Sunshine are both in on this together, then." Jazz chuckled, leaning forward. "Are you sure you want to know what's in that file? Sometimes it's better to keep a little bit of guesswork in the relationship."

"We need to know what has happened to her. She won't tell us, no matter how much we try to work it out of her."

"Alright. I require half of the high-grade up front. You can drop it off in one of the storage rooms by the brig. No one ever goes down there unless they have to. Just drop me a line when it's been delivered and I'll gather it and start working." Jazz smiled before throwing his helm back and sucking down the remainder of his energon. "It was nice doing business with you, Sideswipe."

The two mechs shook hands and Jazz left the rec room, casting a small shadow as he stalked out. Sideswipe, not wanting to appear suspicious, walked across the room and joined in the poker game that was being played. With any amount of luck, he'd be able to get rid of a couple shifts.

* * *

><p>"Alright, Sunny. It's done. The drop off point has been established and we are finally going to figure out what's wrong that femme." Sideswipe flopped down onto his berth. They had separated the berths again, because Sunstreaker was working night shifts and Sideswipe was working the day shifts. They had learned that keeping the berths together when they were on opposing shifts was a terrible idea. One or the other…or both, ended up in the Medbay.<p>

"Excellent. Damnable femme…" Sunstreaker said, his arm flung over his optics, looking utterly relaxed. Sunstreaker always had that ability; the ability to look utterly relaxed when on the inside, his spark was pounding against its casing.

"Damnable femme my aft." Sideswipe said, kicking off his berth covering and settling down against the bare berth. "You like her just as much as I do. After all, it's half of your high grade and one of your shifts going to Jazz."

"I'd probably like her a lot more if I could ever see her again." Sunstreaker grumped from his berth, rolling over onto his side.

"I know, it's been tough. But, think about this. In just two orns, she'll be back on base and we can cuddle up to her. Plus, Jazz may be able to hack the data base and tell us what's wrong with her. Then, we might be able to figure out what's going on in that pretty little helm of hers."

Sunstreaker's optics came on as he sighed. He really did miss her, even if he tried not to. Sideswipe flipped over onto his side as well, and faced his brother. Together, the two looked at each other and allowed their bond to open. Both sides were similar.

Both had feelings of tentative love. Both had a lot of fear and a little bit of shame. Shame because they were going behind her back to find out her deepest secrets. It was wrong, but there was nothing else they could think to do. After all, they were starting to love her.

But, where Sideswipe had a glowing, warm aura surrounding Carina, Sunstreaker's was cooler and more placid. It was obvious that Sunstreaker was warming up to her, but he was still a little uneasy with her being a part of them.

"I love you, Sunstreaker." Sideswipe said softly from his berth. The words were fluid and soft over Sunstreaker's audios. They had been small 'bots the last time they had actually uttered the words to one another.

"I love you too, brother." Sunstreaker returned, feeling the bond between them flood with brotherly love and adoration for each other. Much had happened to them and between them, but they had always pulled through. This would be no different. Hopefully, a femme between the two of them every night would bring them closer together.

* * *

><p>Jazz strode into their berthroom as though he owned it. Although, Jazz walked into everyone's space as though he owned it. It was just one of those things that made Jazz…Jazz.<p>

"What's up, brothers?" he asked as he took a seat on Sunstreaker's berth, which was the only berth of the two that had a covering on it. Sideswipe's was on the floor, like usual.

"Wondering what you have found for us, Jazz." Sunstreaker's tone was harsh and unyielding. He was in no mood to allow Jazz to play his little mind games until he got bored. Sunstreaker had just finished the shift he had taken on for Jazz, which coupled with the other shift that day, meant that Sunstreaker was running on empty. All he wanted to do was settle down on his berth, drink his cube of energon and recharge.

"Don't mind him. He's just grumpy. Lay it on us. What did you find out about our favorite femme?" Sideswipe asked, taking a seat on his brother's berth and pulling Sunstreaker down with him.

"Probably a lot more than the two of you bargained for." Jazz said ominously. "The femme known as Carina has had a pit of a time of it." Both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe looked at one another, steeling themselves for what was to come.

"She's the daughter of a mech named Covercross and a femme named Premiera. They were both members of the Alpha class on Cyberton. They bonded during the third turn of Iacon, seemingly because of extrinsic pressures." Jazz paused, surveying the mechs before him. They were nearly huddled together, shoulders rubbing together and looking as though they were going to disintegrate at any moment.

"Anyways. They bonded, whether they really wanted to or not. After a few hundred vorns, at the end of the third turn of Iacon, they had a sparkling, named Carina. Carina was named after a galaxy, which her mother had been studying. At first, they seemed to be getting along okay. I found tons of medical records of both femmes and even some of Carina's first stats were in Teletran." Jazz paused, seeing the darkness creeping up on both mechs. "Are you both sure you want me to keep going?"

"Yes."

"Please."

"Alright. Well, after a while, there were some headlines that started coming up. Apparently there were some…problems." Jazz said, watching both mechs for any sign of… anything, really. He was watching Sunstreaker much more closely, to be certain, as he was the gladiator and the more unbalanced of the two.

It was Sideswipe who spoke. "What kind of problems, Jazz?"

"Fidelity problems; at least at first."

"Can you even cheat on your sparkmate?" Sunstreaker asked, his dark optics looking at Jazz with a morbid sort of curiosity.

"Apparently, yes. However, the bad part is that Carina was the fallout. Her mother and father decided that they would rather sever the bond and slowly disintegrate rather than stay together for the sake of the sparkling. So, Carina was basically auctioned off." Jazz's tone was extremely heavy, as though he was unhappy for having discovered the news and having to share it.

"Auctioned? What do you mean?" Sideswipe asked, his tone dangerously close to anger. Jazz held up his hands, a gesture of peace. The danger of the situation was starting to creep up on him. While the mechs were smaller than some, they were much bigger than he was. And, they were cold blooded killers. Funny, sardonic killers, but killers none the less.

"She was basically sold to the highest bidder. Of course, with the Alphas, it was never out rightly stated, but little Carina ended up in the hands of the High Council for almost two vorns. Apparently, the High Council actually thought about this a little bit, because they took on lots of applications. And, money wasn't all they were after." Jazz paused, surveying the body language of the two mechs in front of him. Just because they were friends didn't mean that one or the other wouldn't take a swing at him.

"In the end, Carina ended up with a nice, loving, wealthy family from the Xanthium Quadrant. They were supposedly very nice people who gave a large donation to the council. Thanks to that donation, they were given the little femme they had always wanted. They had four young mechs, but they wanted a femme. So, they got her." Jazz reached into his subspace and pulled out a data pad. He clicked on the screen and showed them a picture and headline from the Iaconian Iota, the local news station.

The picture was of a tiny femme, unmistakably Carina. The colors were different and she was obviously much younger, but her posture spoke of Carina. She was slumped over, arms folded low over her chassis in a protective gesture. She was surrounded by four medium-to-large mechs and one giant mech, as well as a gentle looking femme. All the rest of the 'bots in the photograph were happy, with arms slung around each other and the mother and father were kissing in the background. But, little Carina was in the forefront, looking like someone had stomped on her favorite mechano-puppy.

"Poor little thing." Jazz said as he turned off the data pad and slipped it back in his subspace. "At any rate, that was the last I could find of her until she enrolled in the Autobot army. Some of the black-out were missions that she was involved in. Some little bits and pieces of interesting data; but nothing useful to our investigation. A portion of the data was buried so deeply that I couldn't flush it out."

Both the twins were silent, slumped over. One red arm was slung over golden shoulders. Their optics were dim, showing the inner turmoil the pair was going through. Jazz watched them carefully.

"Alright, my mechs. That's the extent of what I've got. Thanks for the shifts and the high-grade. I hope 'ya learned what you wanted to, even if you got a little more than you bargained for." Jazz said, getting up and stretching his arms over his head, before heading for the door. He departed with a small wave behind him.

The doors to the twin's room clicked shut. Both brothers were still completely still, sorting and processing all the information that had been given to them. While they understood what had been told to them, there was still a lot more to the small femme than Jazz had been able to sort out. They both knew that the foundations of her behaviors lay within his story, but there was more to it than that. There had to be more to it than that.

"Can you imagine that? To be tossed aside by your parents, after they decided to separate and die?" Sideswipe said, leaning back against the wall, keeping his brother well within his reach, but removing his arm from Sunstreaker.

"I can't imagine breaking a sparkbond because of petty problems. Not only that, but that poor little femme was the fallout. No one deserves that." Sunstreaker said, leaning forward and bracing his forearms on his knees. His helm fell between his grasped hands, completing the picture of a distraught mech.

"I mean, we've seen some worse times than that… I think. I remember when we went to go sign you up to be a gladiator. That was a really dark day. But, that was our decision. We made it together, as the sad, little pathetic family that we were. Carina, well, she didn't have a choice. Her so called family made those decisions for her, when she was too young to have a say in what was happening, but old enough to understand." Sideswipe paused, turning his helm and letting his optics fall on his brother.

Sunstreaker felt his brother tug at him through the bond and turned to face the red mech. The two brothers stared at one another for what seemed like vorns, but was probably only about a breem. The two had never known anything outside of each other. They had always simply been Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. The two of them were attached at the spark. If one was on the battlefield, the other would feel shadows of it in their soul. They felt each other's fear, joy, and sadness. They literally felt everything the other one felt. Which meant that when they were both sad or angry, what they felt was expanded two-fold.

Sideswipe, while optic locked with his brother, was up to his old tricks. While he could feel the crushing sadness that engulfed Sunstreaker, the emotion was not entirely unique. Sunstreaker was a brooding kind of mech. It was not unusual for Sideswipe to have to punch his brother, just to start a fight. What a great idea.

*WHAM*

A red fist dented a golden chassis. All hell broke loose, in typical twin fashion, of course.

"What the hell, Sideswipe?" Sunstreaker roared from his place on the floor. Sideswipe was straddling his brother, with his head thrown back and laughter pouring from his vocals.

"Dude. You were brooding like a three-hundred vorn femme. It was disgusting and making feel like I needed to empty my tanks. So, I hit you instead. I think you'll thank me in the long run." Sideswipe said, happily grinning from his perch on his brother's chassis. Sunstreaker growled, but offered no resistance to his brother.

"Yeah, well, there's no reason for me to be happy right now. I just found out that my femme has had a really slagging bad experience of life. And all I did for the first few Earth months I knew her was make her life a slag heap. I feel like slag." Sunstreaker said, throwing one arm over his optics dramatically.

"You're such a fraggin' drama queen. Look at you. You are so disgusting. If I was a femme I wouldn't touch you for anything in the whole universe. Besides, 'Rina loves all that verbal sparring you two do. If she didn't like it, she'd probably try to put you down on your aft." Sideswipe said, pulling his brother's arm off his optics.

"I'm not a 'drama queen,' you aft." Sunstreaker made a swipe at his brother, using the distraction to flip them both, so he was on top of Sideswipe. "I'm having troubles with all of these disgusting feelings inside of me. Slag. I am a femme." Sunstreaker dropped his head to his chest, optics dimming with shame.

"Um…yeah. I kind of knew that already, slaghead. I know everything about you." Sideswipe grinned up at his brother, locking a leg behind Sunstreaker's knee. It was time to get Sunny's mind off this bullslag.

In one smooth movement, Sideswipe flung his torso to one side, flipping Sunstreaker. Side's knee disengaged, moving to straddle his brother. Sunstreaker's face was enjoying being pressed into the floor. He enjoyed it even more when his face began grinding into the cold, hard metal of the floor, courtesy of his brother's hand on the back of his helm.

"That's it, Aft-'Swipe!" With a roar of rage, Sunstreaker bucked and threw his twin off. Sideswipe landed in an undignified pile on the floor, only a few feet away. Sunstreaker scrambled to his feet and stood over the pile that was his brother. His shadow covered Sideswipe completely, but the moment was bittersweet. How many times had he stood over an opponent like this? How many times had he ended a life for fame and money?

"That haunted look in your optics is doing nothing for my spirits, Sunshine." Sideswipe said. "The past is in the past, and look at you now. You're finally have real feelings again. Feelings, Sunshine. Like 'Bots have. Hell, even Ratchet has them." Sideswipe sat up, bracing his torso with his hands behind himself. "I'm actually kind of proud of you. Even though you're still a bastard to everyone else, you're actually letting people tease you about 'Rina. And that's priceless to me. Now I'm the femme. I love you, brother. And, I think I'm falling in love with Carina. So, I think we need to talk to her."

"Talk to her about what?"

Both mechs looked over from their respective positions, one prostrate on the floor, the other standing victorious over the other.

"Wow. This planet really does have intelligent life, just like Optimus told me. I was wondering there for a while, but you two have proven me wrong, yet again." Carina moved smoothly into the room, taking a seat on Sideswipe's berth, before flopping backwards and letting her head land with a soft 'thunk' on the pillow.

Both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker exchanged glances before Sunstreaker pulled Sideswipe to his feet. Both mechs moved to the side of the berth. Unfortunately, Sideswipe's berth was pushed up against the wall, making the two of them crowd together to get a good look at their femme. Carina, for her part, was lying down on her back, with her optics offline. One of her legs was drawn up at the knee, giving both mechs an excellent view.

"You're home early." Sideswipe said.

Sunstreaker's hand went to the top of her knee, massaging gently. Sideswipe's hand rested gently on her shoulder, rubbing in small circles. Carina sighed, a gentle smile touching her lips.

"And how have my mechs been since I've been away?" 'Rina asked, onlining her optics and looking at both mechs. Sunstreaker continued to rub at her knee, but was emboldening his touches, expanding the circle with each pass. Sideswipe, on the other hand, was moving down her arm, until he reached her hand. Once he reached her hand, he engulfed her tiny fingers with his giant paw.

"We've been finding out about how your parents abandoned you." Sunstreaker said, never ceasing his circles. Sideswipe grimaced. That was his Sunny. Straight to the point.

"WHAT!" Carina sat bolt upright, knocking Sunstreaker's hand off her thigh, but tightening her grasp on Sideswipe's hand. "How? What? Wait. How do you two know? That's something nobody on this goddamn planet should know!" Carina tried to stand, pushing at the shoulders that blocked her way.

"'Rina. Please understand. Please. We had to." Sideswipe said, trying to disentangle his hand from hers. Carina glared at both of them. They were horrible, insolent little fraggers who should know better than to go digging in her past.

"What else do you two know about me? Hmm? What else did you discover when you decided to go digging?" Carina asked, finally settled on standing up on the berth. Even with standing up on the berth, she only stood a few inches taller than the two mechs she was facing. "You are two of the most horrible mechs I have ever met!"

"Carina." Sunstreaker said, reaching up with one gold hand to caress her faceplate. "We only wanted to know what had happened to you. We wanted to know what made you like this. You know that Sides and I were on the gladiatorial circuit. You know our past. But, we knew nothing of you." Sunstreaker said. Sideswipe's hand caressed the other side of Carina's faceplate, joining his brother's.

"Listen, Carina. We both…have strong feelings for you. It was obvious to us that you didn't want to talk about it. And, we took things into our own hands. It was wrong, but necessary. That's kind of who we are. Do you think we play pranks all the time because we want to? Well…sometimes, but other times it's because it raises morale. The mechs laugh when they happen. We do what's necessary. And this was no different. But, this was just a little bit closer to the spark." Sideswipe's optics burned into hers. The transparency of this mech was astonishing.

Carina's rage and emotions ravaged through her systems. She was furious! But, looking into these two mech's optics was like looking into their sparks. They were completely transparent. They were both depraved, but in different ways. But, here they were, telling her the complete and honest truth. All the other mechs she'd been with wouldn't have had the guts to tell her anything like that outright.

She wanted to balk at the blatant love they were trying to give her. The strong, independent femme inside of her wanted to push them and stalk out. The exhausted mechanic inside of her just wanted to accept the love and recharge being held by them. Besides, the inner exhausted femme argued, she was going to tell them eventually. Eventually, she was actually planning on telling them much deeper secrets than her well-published past. In the end, with her pride wounded, but surrounded by love, she surrendered to the exhausted femme within her.

"You two shouldn't have done that."

"We know." They chorused back at her, hands still cradling her faceplates.

"So, here's the deal. I'm so tired. I've been working non-stop. I don't want to fight this out. It would be an unfair fight: two mechs against one femme. I would win in a sparkbeat. But, I'm way too tired to even try. So, here's what we're going to do. You two are going to let me down." They both nodded, but Carina continued. "Then, you're going to push these berths together. After that, we are going to recharge. All three of us. For a long time. We can deal with this bullslag tomorrow. Besides, the damage has been done. Afts."

Both of her mechs did as they were told, but not without their typical slag. Sunstreaker kept asking her if she needed a boost or a hand. Sideswipe would pinch her aft every time he got within pinching distance of her aft.

In the end, all three of them were cuddled up on the bed. All were mentally exhausted, but one was both physically and mentally exhausted. After some good natured pushing and shoving, Carina was settled between the two mechs. One large chassis to her back, one to her front. She sighed, leaning into the chassis behind her. She could get used to this.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I think I'm ready to interface with you two. But, given today's debacle, that's going to have to be pushed back at least a few months."

"WHAT?"

"CARINA, PLEASE!"

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><p>I'm sorry this story is taking me so long. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are really difficult to write. I'm trying really hard to make them both believable. Besides, I'm taking 18 units and I'll be graduating at the end of August, which is most excellent, and a year early. This means, however, that I'm stretched pretty thin. But, I want to thank everyone who favorite or added me to a storyauthor alert list. And especially to those that took the time to review. Reveiws make me write. No, really. They do. So, please do a starving college kid a favor and motivate me to write some more. I need it in my life. Also, add anything you need out of this story. Is it moving along well? Ready for interfacing?


	7. Chapter 7

Alright! I am so excited about this story. Everyone seems to be enjoying it a lot and I tried to respond to everyone who sent me a review. If I missed you, I apologize. But, I do love them all and they motivate me to write. I hope this chapter inspires more reviews. (Also, this is a long one. Buckle in.)

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><p>"Wheeljack?"<p>

"Hmmm?"

"Why is Sunstreaker so fragged up?" Carina asked, as the two of them worked side by side in his lab. They had been asked by the Prime to make several energon dispensers for the troops. They had both mused that a simple work drone could have made them, but Prime was obviously trying to keep them busy. Probably because Wheeljack tended to blow things up when he was left to his own devices.

"I think that you should ask him, sweetspark." Wheeljack turned to look at Carina, who was leaning over and having a pit of a time trying to connect wires. Carina looked up and met his optics. 'Jack had quickly become one of her favorite 'bots on the base. He was open, friendly and was just too cute for her to be mean. Besides, they had survived his lab blowing up together. That had established a pretty big bond.

"I really don't want to ask. It seems like he might try to run away or something." Carina responded, reaching over the bench and grabbing a smaller soldering tool. Her brow furrowed in concentration, but she was concentrating more on Sunstreaker than on the little wires in her grasp. Wheeljack laughed, his wide shoulders shaking. He really was a handsome mech, in a way.

"Carina." Wheeljack deadpanned, looking over at her again. "I'm not sure you know Sunstreaker all that well. I've never seen him flee from anything. And he's been in some pretty terrifying situations." 'Jack stopped speaking for a few seconds and grabbed his own soldering tool. Carina lifted her helm and peered over into his energon dispenser, watching his large hands efficiently connect the wires.

"Although; you might just be terrifying to him. I don't know that he's ever really been in a stable relationship. He's always kind of been a love 'em and leave 'em type." 'Jack said quietly, looking resolutely at his energon dispenser. Basically, he was looking anywhere but at her. He wasn't stupid.

"I kind of gathered that, from everything that Sideswipe has said." Carina replied, trying to copy 'Jack's delicate soldering work. It was not going well for her. Soldering little wires had always been a struggle for her. "Sideswipe, I get. He's a femme lover, but is actually a soft-sparked mech. Sunstreaker…well, he's a complete mystery to me."

"Luckily for you, little femme, he's a mystery to all of us." Wheeljack smiled down at her. She could tell because his mask rose a little bit on either side of his face. He reached out and grabbed her, pulling her under one of his massive shoulders. He turned, with her squarely pressed into his side and led her to the door. One huge hand pushed the door aside easily, even though Carina knew that the doors weighed several tons.

"Go on, femme. I can handle making all those dispensers. You're just going to melt your little fingers. Leave it to me. You just go find your mechs and start asking questions." Wheeljack paused, looking thoughtful. His optics dimmed a little bit and Carina got the feeling that he was thinking about something deep.

"Just remember that love, no matter what, requires the ability to openly and honestly ask questions about the other party. And, that person must also have the ability to answer just as honestly." 'Jack looked down at her, fondness lightening his optics. Carina gazed almost lovingly into his optics. It was like Wheeljack was that missing link in her life. The older brother she had never had. Someone who was able to tell her things honestly and not sugar coat anything.

"Thanks, 'Jack. It means a lot that you will listen to me, even when I'm being whiny and more than a little bit…femme-esque." Carina smiled up at one of three mechs who actually meant something to her. Wheeljack merely nodded and pushed her out the door with one hand on her lower back, and slid the door closed behind her.

Carina started walking down the long hallway that separated Wheeljack's labs from the rest of the base. It was an arduous task; both asking her to speak openly with Sunstreaker and expect to get answers out of him. He was a very private mech. He was often violent and mean spirited. But then again, so was she. Did Sunstreaker often think the same things about her? Was he scared to speak to her for the same reasons?

She shook her helm. If Sideswipe wasn't afraid to speak to her, then it was more than likely that Sunstreaker wasn't afraid to speak to her either. They seemed to influence each other's emotions very heavily. If one had good feelings, the other shared those. She had seen it often when they were competing against one another. Even if one of them was winning, the other would seem to be elated, even when they were getting their faces rubbed in the dirt.

It was one of the most interesting things she had ever seen. She knew that they acted much like a bonded pair would act, but she had seen few bonded couples in her time with the Autobots. She knew that Moonracer and Ratchet were bonded, but it seemed that the two of them were more often than naught, extremely mad at one another. There were times when she wondered if it was perhaps Ratchet's temper that affected their bond so severely. Perhaps she should schedule her next appointment with Moonracer and see if she could get some answers out of the femme.

The hallway turned into the rec room soon enough. Carina poked her helm into the room and peeked around. Prowl was in the corner, obviously waiting for his evening energon to be ready. There were several other mechs milling around, but it was early in the afternoon. Most of the 'bots would still be on shift or sleeping. She pressed on, determined to get to the safety and comfort of her room. There, she could think and get some peace and quiet.

As she walked towards her room, there was an odd noise emanating from her hallway. It was sort of a subdued noise, but it was still a horrible, overarching noise that was grating on her nerves and her audios. It was low pitched, but still had enough volume behind it to be incredibly disrupting.

She crept down the hallway, determined to find out where the noise was coming from. There was every possibility that it was coming from some sort of a bomb or that the Decepticons were trying to infiltrate. If that was the case, then she would have to be the one to diffuse the situation or run like pit to the nearest mech she could find.

The noise seemed to be coming from her room. She crept towards the door, listening and waiting for the noise. It was rhythmic and sounded more and more visceral the closer she got. As she came into sight of the door, there was a small note written on the data-pad that was attached to it. (Optimus had seen the idea on Sam's door, but in a dry-erase board and decided that it was a great idea.)

It read, '_Carina: I'm using the room for a while. Don't come in unless you want your pretty little optics to shatter. Love, Firestar._'

Carina groaned, remembering that Prowl had, indeed, sent her a warning that Firestar was going to be rooming with her after she had an altercation with Arcee. Prowl was now just trying to shift around the fiery femme until she finally decided that she wanted to live with one of her many 'mech-friends.'

The femme more than likely had Inferno in there with her. Which meant that noises she had been hearing were the sounds of…

"EWWW!"

Carina backed away from her door, wanting to get away from the noise more than anything. But, she still wanted a place to rest and relax. She checked her chronometer. It was time for shifts to change, which meant that the rec room was going to be crowded. There was only one place she could think to go.

::Sideswipe?:: Carina asked over a private internal comlink. She only had to wait a few seconds until he answered.

::Hey, 'Rina. What's up?:: Sideswipe's cheery voice broke through to her audios. Carina smiled, feeling warmed by just the sound of his voice. Was this love? Probably, but he didn't need to know that.

::I was wondering if I could come hang out in your room. Mine is being…used. In more ways than one.:: Carina said, allowing her voice to show the disgust she felt for the situation. She was less than impressed with Firestar and her incessant need for interface.

::Well, 'Rina, you're just going to have to go to the room and see if Sunstreaker will let you in. I'm in the field on patrol, and I'll be out here for a while. Sunny is in there painting. If he's paying attention, he'll come and answer the door. Then, plead your case. He likes you. He might even let you watch him paint.::

::Thanks, 'Swipe. I'll see you for energon when you get off?::

::O'course, sweetspark. See you then.::

Carina turned and started off down another hallway. The entire base was basically a labyrinth. It was meant as a safety feature; any Decepticons that broke into the base had to be extremely prepared or very lucky to find anything other than a bullet in their spark chamber.

As she wandered the halls, she wondered if there was any way that Sunstreaker was going to let her into the room. And, on top of that, would he let her watch him paint? She'd heard from Sideswipe that Sunstreaker was very protective of his artwork. He only let a few femmes model for him and only a few were able to watch him paint things that did not involve live subjects.

If he let her watch him paint, then she knew that he cared for her in some or fashion. Carina smiled, thinking about the golden brother. Then, she frowned. They were making her smile an awful lot lately. She was going to lose her edge as the bitchiest femme on the base if people were seeing smiling without hurting someone.

All too soon, she was standing in front of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe's door. She raised one slender fist and rapped lightly. She waited for the door to open, patiently. She stood with her hands clasped behind her back. She put a pretty smile on her faceplates and waited for Sunstreaker to open the door.

When half a breem had gone by, the smile started slipping off her faceplates. When a whole breem had passed, she inched back up to the door. One audio pressed against the surface and she listened for any sign of life. Nothing. Not a peep.

Carina sighed, weighing her options. She raised a fist and whacked the door as hard as she could, hitting the door with a resounding *THUD*

Before her fist even returned to her side, the door swung open and heralded Sunstreaker. He leaned against the door frame casually, even though his optics spoke volumes of his annoyance. They were light around the edges, but the insides were so dark they were almost black.

He was cleaning his hands with a rag, slowly slipping the cloth between his digits. She had to admit, he was quite sexy standing there like that. Even covered in paint splatters, he was still one of the most magnificent creatures she had ever laid optics on.

"What do you want, Carina?" Sunstreaker's voice did nothing to hide his impatience. His optics bore into her own, but he never stopped cleaning his hands with the rag.

"Um. I'm being sexiled by Firestar and only Primus knows who. I was hoping that I could relax in here for a while." She said, smiling prettily up at him once more. She hoped that looking cute would be enough to convince Sunstreaker that she deserved to spend time in the quite of their room.

"And, may I ask, what is wrong with the rec room?" He asked, finally stilling the cloth in his hands and focusing his full attention on her.

"It's loud. Insanely so."

"I see," He paused, looking over his shoulder, into the room. "Come on, then." Sunstreaker turned and stalked into the room. Carina followed, noting that his entire back was also covered in paint. Even his aft. She almost giggled, but choked on it, as she remembered whom she was with. Sunstreaker would not appreciate being giggled at. Ever.

"Thanks a ton, Sunstreaker. I won't bother you. I promise." Carina said as she hopped up onto Sideswipe's berth. Both of the mechs seemed to like moving their berths all the time. This trip, both of the berths were pushed together in the corner of the room. This made the berths come together in an "L" shape, with both the heads of the berths together.

She leaned back against the wall, picking up his pillow and holding it in her lap. She dipped her helm and surreptitiously sniffed the pillow. It smelled like Sideswipe. All mech, with a little hint of wax.

Carina watched as Sunstreaker moved the center of the room. She then realized that the berths had been moved out of the way to allow Sunstreaker room to paint. He had set up a canvas and several large tubes of paints. She had a perfect view of his aft as he evaluated the work he had done thus far. It was nearly impossible to tell what he was painting, because his aft was in the way. She found that she didn't care at all. As cheesy as it was, she considered Sunstreaker to be a work of art.

She watched as he tilted his helm this way and that. His optics were casting the canvas in a blue shadow. His arms were crossed low over his chest, his hips tilted slightly to one side. The canvas in front of him was black, with little slashes of white across its surface. Carina hugged Sideswipe's pillow closer to her, thinking back on his words. It was truly amazing that Sunstreaker was even letting her into his room when he was painting. She knew that the gladiator was extremely private about his art.

From what she had been able to piece together of the mech, he and Sideswipe had clawed their way out of poverty by a combination of things. One, Sunstreaker was an amazing gladiator. Two, Sideswipe was an amazing bargainer. When they discovered that Sunstreaker could paint and draw, Sideswipe saw the way out of the gladiatorial pits. However, Sunstreaker always seemed very private about his talents. At least his artistic ones.

Carina knew that even being invited into their quarters while he was working was an honor. But to see him actually work on his paintings made her pump flutter. It was a level of trust that she had not seen out of Sunstreaker.

"Carina," Sunstreaker said, tossing her a look over his shoulder. His body was angled towards her now, with his helm tilted down slightly. The whole look was quite seductive. Carina couldn't help that she found him extremely attractive. And Sunstreaker couldn't help that he liked to show off the fact that he was extremely attractive. If anything, he was even sexier with all the paint covering his body. It just made her want to scrub him clean, her on her knees in the shower, him leaning against the tiles in the showers.

"Yes?" She said, realizing that she had been lost in her fantasy for more than a few moments. It was best if Sunstreaker did not know that she was having little fantasies about him. Primus only knew what he would do if his brother was not around to call him down. Sideswipe seemed like he was the only one who could possibly hold back his brother's more…carnal…urges. While the prospect of being the sole object of his affections was intoxicating, it was also frightening.

"What do you think of it?" Sunstreaker asked as he moved his body to the side, inviting her optics to gaze upon his painting. It was beautiful, even in its uncompleted form. She realized that it was a silhouette of Iacon, with the white being Iconian landscape and the black was the background. The white being the buildings gave an impression of pureness, and the black gave the impression that everything outside of Iacon was unimportant.

"It's one of the most beautiful paintings I've ever seen." Carina answered honestly, sitting up a little straighter on Sideswipe's berth. She dropped her hands to her lap, plucking nervously at his pillow. She didn't know what Sunstreaker's reaction would be. She assumed that he would want to hear something positive about his work, but he could be a finicky mech. Maybe he wanted a much more harsh critique, but she couldn't help but be honest about his painting. It was, simply, beautiful. There was nothing else she could say about it.

"I think it looks it a little drab. It lacks feeling. I usually avoid dichromatic paint schemes, because it makes it much harder to control the emotions of the viewer. What emotions do you feel when you look at it?" Sunstreaker asked, leaning his torso away from the painting. He began moving in all directions, taking in different angles of the artwork.

"I feel…nostalgic. I think that it'll be hard to evoke any other emotion out of an Autobot when you paint the skyline of Iacon. It's too important to us, even if the viewer never even visited the place." Carina answered honestly again. Last time it hadn't led her astray, so she tried the whole 'truthful' thing again.

Sunstreaker looked at the painting over and over again, circling it like a lion would its prey. He didn't acknowledge that he had heard her, instead choosing to sink into himself and peruse his art over and over again. Thinking that she was not needed any longer, Carina sank back into the berth once more. She simply watched, knowing that she was getting a rare glimpse of the gladiator. There was no way she was going to ruin it by distracting him.

*RIP*

The noise of ripping fabric broke her out of her reverie and she sat bolt upright, staring at Sunstreaker like he was insane. He had ripped the canvas straight off the wooden frame, and was holding the ruined art in his hands, looking at it like it was garbage.

"What are you doing?" Carina cried, scrambling off the berth and tearing towards Sunstreaker. She grabbed the ruined canvas out of Sunstreaker's hands, holding it tenderly and spreading it out in her hands. Her arms weren't long enough to spread the entire painting out in her arms, but she did her best. When she had spread it out enough, she dropped to her knees near the frame and tried to make it fit once more.

When the frame proved to be too difficult to work with upright, she toppled it. When it was flat on the floor, she desperately tried to match the frayed edges to the rest of the painting. The entire time she worked, Sunstreaker was silent, merely watching the femme try to restore his half-finished painting. When she realized that there was no hope- the canvas was too stretched to ever belong on that frame again- she climbed back to her feet and rounded on him.

"You idiot!" She said, standing on tip-toe and facing down the gladiator without fear. "That painting was so pretty and had a lot of sentimental value for all of us. It would have looked great in any room in this base. I bet somebody would have even paid a fair amount of credits for it. Pit, I would have paid for it." She nearly shouted in his faceplate, accentuating her words with little jabs to his chestplates with a finger.

Sunstreaker seemed to be completely unimpressed with her, yet again. He had schooled his features into his trademark indifferent look. Only his optics betrayed his feelings towards her. They had darkened considerably from what they had been. Only a few emotions would cause his optics to be dark. Most of them were negative, but a few of them were…intimate.

While Carina had been trying to repair his failed painting, he had leaned his body against the wall, content to watch her. Her little aft had been wagging in the air the entire time she had been trying to spread out the canvas. Listening to her bitch him out under her breath had caused him to remember that he was developing feelings for the small femme. There she was, trying to repair his art, when he knew that it was ruined. And, she still managed to turn him on by being feisty.

It made his spark clench, knowing that what she was doing could be considered highly symbolic. If only she would try to repair his dark spark with as much fervor. He knew that she was asking questions about him to Sideswipe, and possibly others. He wished that she was comfortable enough with him to come and ask him the questions she wanted the answers to. However, he also knew there was more than enough water under the bridge when it came to them. It was unrealistic of him to expect her to trust him that fully, especially when he had treated her so poorly for so long.

But, still. There she was, sitting in the middle of his paint splattered room, trying with desperation to repair something he had made. She was so…so…cute. The curve of her back was so alluring, so sensual. Her tiny, round aft was swaying in the air as she moved, making a certain part of his anatomy take notice.

He realized that he was falling in love with this femme. Of course, that wasn't terribly surprising, given the fact that Sideswipe's side of the bond was always brimming with love for the femme. More than once, Sunstreaker had walked in on his brother…expressing…that love for their femme. And Sunstreaker had never let Sideswipe forget about any of those embarrassing mishaps.

But, the fact still remained that there was a distance between himself and Carina. While Sideswipe and Carina were buddies, often seen together in the rec room watching movies and partaking in energon, Sunstreaker did not have the same relationship with her. He had tried, but every time he tried to get close to her, he let his darker side show just a little more than he had planned. It was hard for him to keep it contained. And Carina seemed to pick up on the smallest queues from him. All it took was for his optics to darken menacingly, or for him to grin at her, and she knew that he was teetering on the edge.

It was time for Carina to know that she was precious to him as well. Sideswipe may have been the more…outgoing of the two of them, but it was time. Sunstreaker smirked as he evaluated his options. There were many avenues he could take to make Carina realize that he loved her. However, he couldn't just come out and say it. One, it would ruin his reputation, and two, Sideswipe would be the better of the two to try out those waters.

So, that left him with _showing_ her how much she meant to him. Which brought up a whole new set of problems; the only way he knew how to show affection for a femme was through physical means. He usually held them down, fucked them, gave them a processor-altering overload and then sent them home. If he really liked them, he let them stay the night, and then kicked them out the next morning.

He looked down at the femme who was still screaming at him. Even on tip-toe, she was still at least a foot shorter than he was. It made him feel large and dominate, which was fantastic. He loved being the dominate one in the relationship; it was just part of his nature. He was simply a dominate mech, and having a small femme in his arms made him feel complete. Carina had been shouting at him for at least a breem straight, and he hadn't acknowledged her once.

It was great, though. Listening to her shout at him and get angrier and angrier was one of the best things of his life. This tiny little femme was completely unafraid of him in that moment, and she was in his faceplate. He decided to check in and listen to her for a few seconds.

"Are you even listening to me, you piece of slag? You need to fix this slagging painting and hang it up somewhere where we can appreciate it," She paused, taking in a huge amount of air, "And, you need to finish it before you do that! Then, you will put this fragging thing up in the recreation room and you will slagging sign your name onto it." She screamed at him, poking him in the chestplates with one long finger.

"Femme. Calm down." Sunstreaker said as he grabbed the finger that was irritating his chestplates. She screamed high in her throat, fighting for her finger. While she was concentrating on her digit, he caught her other hand and turned, pinning her to the wall. Her face fell into a mask of incredulity, and Sunstreaker couldn't help but grin at her.

"What are you doing?" A deadly calm spread over the femme as she asked her question. He smiled at her, knowing that she was probably astro-seconds from exploding in anger. He recognized the calmness well; it was the same thing he did before he struck his enemy in the gladiator pits.

"I am merely restraining you. You are far too angry for the current situation, Carina. What else is going on in your pretty little processor?" Sunstreaker asked, lowering his helm to look her dead in the optics.

"Well, I was just angry at the fact that you ripped up a perfectly fine painting. But, now I'm angry that you are restraining me." She let her optics burrow into his own, telling him without words that she wasn't going to back down from the fight.

"I wouldn't have to restrain you if you would keep your hands to yourself," Sunstreaker lifted his helm again and smirked down at the little femme. "Although, I can't really say I blame you. I find that femmes have a hard time keeping their hands to themselves when I'm around." He tilted his helm so that the light bounced off of him, forgetting that he was covered in splotches of black and white paint.

"Oh, yes. I love a mech who looks like he's been rolling around on top of Prowl for the last few orns. It turns me on, baby." Carina returned sharply, knowing that making fun of Sunstreaker's paint job was a dangerous prospect. But, she knew that it was the quickest and easiest way to get a rise out of the mech.

"Well, then, little femme. It seems as though you have a way to pay me back for the damage you may have done to my chestplates." With that, he scooped up the small femme and carried her 'bridal style' to their personal washracks. It had previously insulted him that he and his brother had been assigned separate washracks, but even he had to admit that it came in handy when he was carrying a femme.

Unsurprisingly, the small femme went wild in his arms. She bucked and hollered, squirmed and punched at him. Sunstreaker, for his part, just took the abuse with a stoic grace, stalking across the washroom and turning the solvent on. He waited for a few moments, until the fluid began to heat, before dropping Carina against his chestplates. She was standing on her own two feet, but was still resting her face against his chestplates.

He walked forward, effectively walking the small femme backwards and into the spray. She fell silent, turning her face up to the spray of solvent and purring lightly. Sunstreaker nearly laughed at his little femme. He needed to take her to the medic and get her tested for some sort of personality disorder. It seemed like she changed moods faster than most mechs could change gears.

"Mmm…Why am I in here?" Carina moaned, still lightly purring as the fluid cascaded over her little frame. Sunstreaker was merely leaning against the wall of the shower, unconcerned with solvent. He was much more concerned with watching her, rather than actually cleaning himself. This was rare time away from his brother, but in the presence of his femme. He was going to take advantage of the situation as he saw fit.

"To clean me, little femme. I have given you shelter and you repaid me by potentially scratching the paint on my chassis. It seems to me that you have racked up quite a debt. You should get to work repaying it, instead of basking in the solvent." Sunstreaker said, knowing that he couldn't make the femme do anything, but he had a hunch that she wouldn't mind cleaning him. He wasn't blind. Carina seemed to enjoy looking at him. Her optics would often dim when she would look at him. The chance to clean him wouldn't be passed over easily.

"I suppose I do owe a…debt, of sorts." Carina said, stepping backwards and out of the flow of solvent. It had been running for a while, so the entire room was filled with steam and was heating her circuits quickly. She was also getting a little warm under the armor, knowing that Sunstreaker had invited her to openly touch him.

"Please, step into the solvent." She ordered, more than asked.

Luckily for her, Sunstreaker simply stepped forward into the solvent and tilted his helm back, much like Carina had. His optics offlined and she took in the sight before her. She knew that she was more physically attracted to Sunstreaker, but it never really hit home until now. He was so masculine, so broad and beautiful.

She shook her helm and reached down to pick up a rag and some special cleanser. The cleanser was labeled with Sideswipe's messy scrawl. It merely read, 'Paint Solvent.' She smiled, thinking of the other mech. Had Sideswipe known that Sunstreaker would do this to her? It was possible, she supposed. He did seem to know his brother rather well.

Carina popped open the top of the solvent and poured some onto the rag in her hand. It was black, which made it very easy to see against the white rag. She looked over Sunstreaker's prone body, trying to decide where to start her cleaning. She decided to work from the bottom up. She kneeled on the ground, near to the drain, and began to rub the cloth over Sunstreaker's pedes. The solvent worked well, but required her to scrub harder than she had expected. She ended up on her knees, using her entire upper body as leverage. She moved up his calves, making sure that his paint was sparklingly clean.

As she moved up his thighs, a blue glow was cast on her from above. She looked up, stilling the hand on his thigh. Her optics met his, and for a moment, it seemed as though time had stopped. Carina had never seen a mech look at her like that before. Except once. And that had not ended very well.

She tried to shake it off by looking back at the rag in her hand and continuing with her mission. She moved to his other thigh, ignoring the tightening in her abdomen. For the first time, the fear she felt was being trampled by her arousal.

She nearly laughed. Maybe she was finally being able to rationalize her fear. Or maybe it was just that it had been so long since she had been intimate with anyone that her processor was starting to shut down. Either way, it was relieving.

She continued her cleaning, making sure that his golden paint shone as she went. She made sure that the backs of his calves and thighs also shone. She tackled his aft with a little more pleasure than she should have felt. It was just so…perfect. He truly was a perfect specimen of a mech.

She went up his back, standing as she went. The black of the solvent mixed with the solvent coming out the spigot and swirled in the drain. She took great pride as she uncovered his gorgeous body. She tried very hard to keep her hands from straying, but it was more than a little difficult. She wanted to grab at him and try to reach his protoform, but there was no way Sunstreaker would put up with that. She was moving slowly, as she was behind him and he couldn't see her. She kept both hands on his back as she moved, so he would feel a little more secure with her.

Sunstreaker, for his part, was trying to be as still as possible. When he had been unable to stop the hunger from reaching his optics, he had looked at her. When she had frozen with fear, Sunstreaker was ready to tackle her and make her tell him what had happened to her. There was no way what Jazz had told them was the whole story. She was much too damaged, especially when it came to mechs. He had been flooded with pride when she had vented and focused back on cleaning him.

He was a little disappointed that the little femme had decided to clean his backplates and hide from him, but if that was what it cost for her to feel safe, it was worth it. Besides, he was having a hard time not purring at her. It felt so nice. Sideswipe usually scrubbed his backplates like it was punishment for Sunstreaker.

Carina, however, was making love to his plating. The femme was exerting just enough pressure to take off the paint, while rubbing circles with her other hand. Every once in a while, he felt a tiny hand slip under his protoform and tease a few wires. Just as soon as he felt it, her hand would retreat, as though she realized what she was doing.

He knew that Carina was fairly innocent, but he was prepared to remedy that situation. He had no idea how many mechs had managed to soil his femme, but it didn't matter. He knew that he was a better lover than any other mech in the universe. The only other mech who could possibly outmatch him was Sideswipe, but they were very different in the femme department. It didn't matter though, because right now, there was only himself and Carina.

Carina was standing on tip-toe, cleaning the back of his helm. The solvent on the rag had long since worn off, but Sunstreaker did not have any paint on the back of his helm. Now she was just cleaning him to clean him. He was just enough taller than her to make cleaning his helm a difficult process, but she was managing.

When the back of him was sparklingly clean, she moved to his front. His optics were burning, but he was refusing to look her in the optic. She had a hunch that he knew that she was struggling with his needs, and she suddenly felt silly. This mech, a person that she knew had killed men with his bare hands, was protecting her by not looking her in the optic. She knew how to fix that problem.

She poured a little more solvent onto the rag and started working the black goo into the mech's chestplates. With her free hand, she started rubbing circles on his chestplates, letting her small fingers dip in the seams. She heard the mech above her vent harshly, expelling air with force. She continued to rub the cloth and his chestplates until his optics and helm dropped to look at her. His optics were nothing but blue fire, burning into her own. She felt her abdomen tighten, and this time there was no fear in the equation. Just arousal.

Sunstreaker looked at the little femme with all the need he felt. He knew that she must see the darkness inside of him, but to his surprise, instead of balking, her own optics darkened with arousal. Feeling her tiny fingers play with the seams of his chest plates had nearly caused him to have a spark attack. Sideswipe's side of the bond had flared open when the echo had reached him and had asked questions. For a few moments, all Sunstreaker could do was reassure his brother that they were not sparkbonding, but that Carina was teasing him.

When he had recovered, there was only thing he could think to do. With a gentle hand, Sunstreaker cupped Carina's faceplate. She stopped moving, the hands on his chestplates stilled. His helm dipped and his lips teased hers lightly. He mouthed at her gently, wanting her to kiss him as equally as he kissed her.

He waited for her to overcome her shock and realize that they were going to kiss. When she realized that they were going to kiss, her helm tipped back farther and her lips parted slightly. Sunstreaker smiled against her lips, knowing the needs of a femme when he saw one.

With a gentle movement, Sunstreaker pulled her helm minutely closer and closed his lips over hers. For a few seconds, she was still. Then, out of nowhere, she started moving her lips tenderly against his own. They kissed passionately, both mech and femme lost to their own thoughts.

For Carina, the kiss was beautiful. She had expected Sunstreaker to kiss harshly. Instead, he was so gentle that it shocked her. When he had mouthed at her, she had been aback by the intimacy. For some reason, she had expected that making love with Sunstreaker, in any way, would have been cold and calculated. Instead, she had been assaulted with what had felt an awful lot like love. When she had given herself over to his kiss, she had been rewarded with the lap of his glossa and then she had drowned in his passion.

For Sunstreaker, the kiss was symbolic. It was years of guardedness washing away like the paint that was circling the drain at his feet. This little femme had broken something inside of him. He was still the same mech, but he felt like he had been finally been taught that he had a match. Someone who put up with his 'moods' and still came back for more. And feeling her react to his passion had been something that he wasn't going to forget any time soon. Her softness beneath his lips was completely opposite to her personality. But, it had felt so amazing. The heat of her beneath him, her tiny glossa flicking out to meet his own, her hands against his chestplates. All of it had been amazing.

As they stood, kissing, Sunstreaker knew that he had her on the hook. But, there was no way that he was going to push her too hard or too fast. So, he settled with breaking the kiss and sliding down the wall, turning off the spigot as he went. When he was seated on the shower floor, he reached up for his femme and pulled her down in his lap.

Carina's legs were over his own, pressing their sodpieces together. The heat of their bodies rose, making the leftover solvent evaporate and steam. They kissed each other for what felt like hours. Carina had flung her rag away and was grasping Sunstreaker's helm with both of her hands. Sunstreaker was kneading her hip plating with one hand, and was steadying her body with one large hand on her lower back.

Neither of them noticed the beep of the main door as it slid open. Sideswipe walked into the room and leaned his body against the doorframe to the showers. The last few hours of his shift had been pit. Sunstreaker's side of the bond had been open the entire time Carina had been in the rooms. He had felt echoes of his brother's lust and love. It had made his shift more than a little tumultuous, and Prowl had yelled at him more than once. But, when he had clocked out, there was no doubt that Sunstreaker and Carina were patching their end of the relationship.

As he watched the two of them kiss passionately, he smiled. Sideswipe had always been worried about Sunstreaker's ability to woo a femme on his own. Well, perhaps woo was the wrong word. He was worried about Sunstreaker's ability to be gentle and loving with a femme after he had wooed her. But, seeing Sunstreaker make love to Carina with his mouthplates Sideswipe's worries were put to rest. The mech had the ability to show his love to his femme. And Carina, for her part, looked like she was enjoying the mech-handling.

They had both agreed that something had happened to the femme regarding mechs. She seemed to always seize up when either of them tried to be intimate them. But, there she was, letting Sunstreaker work her up. As he watched, she threw her helm back and rocked against Sunstreaker's sodpiece. Sunstreaker's hands were pulling at the wires in her hips, rocking back against her.

Sideswipe pushed himself off the doorway and joined the couple on the floor. He pushed himself up against the writhing femme, her backplates to his chestplates. He wrapped his arms around her torso, letting his hands rub on her chestplates. She threw her helm back farther, resting on his shoulder. Sideswipe's optics met his brother's and the two of them had a silent conversation. They nodded and coordinated their attack on the femme.

Both leaned forward and trapped the femme between them. They restrained her, gently making her stop rocking. They leaned forward, one mech's helm at each of her audio units. They looked at each other one last time and then both opened their mouthplates. Lips parted gently, helms pressed against one another. Both mechs took one large breath before uttering the sentence that would change their lives and relationships forever.

"I love you."

* * *

><p>And…There we go! Thank you all so much for reviewing and adding me to story and author alerts! I'm sorry this chapter took so long, but I hope this makes up for it. Next chapter will be even better, I promise. But, remember that reviews are what drives me. Trust me. I know myself. Please review and tell me what you are most looking forward to in this story. It could be specific, or general. I just want to hear from everyone.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

"Holy Slag," Was literally the only thing that Carina's processor could come up with at the moment. This was beyond overwhelming. Not only was this the most attention she had ever received from a mech, or two, this was the first time she was faced with a decision of this magnitude. If she didn't return the words, she risked everything she had with the twins. If she did say it back, she opened herself to more pain.

"Well. That wasn't exactly the answer I had expected," Sideswipe said with a fervent, boyish grin, looking over her helm to look Sunstreaker in the optics. "You?"

Sunstreaker smirked at his brother, his hands sliding up and down the femme's sides. He was a very tactile mech. He liked feeling things. His plating, someone else's plating, a canvas, a paint tube, it really didn't matter, so long as he could touch freely. It wasn't a vice he was able to indulge very often.

"It's not terribly surprising. If I was a femme stuck between two utterly gorgeous mechs, I'd probably fritz a little, too," Carina's helm flipped forward onto Sunsteaker's chestplates as she surrendered all of her weight onto the two mechs currently teasing the slag out of her. "I mean, look at her. She's obviously completely overwhelmed by our sexiness and pure unadulterated beauty. Isn't that right, Carina?"

Carina merely moaned, trying to figure out what to do next. Did she love them? Of course. She loved both of them with all of her spark. But, she was at a cross-roads. Did she open her spark to the potential pain that a complex relationship could bring? Or was it simply better to put the walls back up and allow herself to sink back into the abyss of loneliness? Her interface unit screamed at her to make a decision. She either needed to be fragged by a mech, or left alone to do the job herself.

She snuggled her face closer to Sunstreaker's chest, not knowing what to do. They probably already thought that she was a silly little femme. There was almost nothing she could do to make herself feel worse than she did right now. Except…maybe if she started humping Sunstreaker's very hot leg, which was underneath her. She forced herself to be still.

Two sets of hands traced up and down her plating, soothing her. She moaned again, this time for an entirely different reason. Her systems were still running hot, her interface system begging her to return the words and move things along. Her need for overload was starting to overwhelm her embarrassment.

With a giant breath in to clear her intakes, she looked up at the two mechs crowding her. Sunstreaker's faceplate was shatteringly beautiful and his optics were incredibly dark, betraying his arousal. He may look stoic and untouchable, but his optics openly begged her to touch him. She turned her helm a little to look at Sideswipe. His optics were just as dark as his brothers, but while Sunstreaker looked serious, Sideswipe's boyish grin was firmly in place. No need for her to decipher his look.

"I'm not ready for this," Carina's voice broke, but she wouldn't allow herself to look away from the two most precious beings in the world to her. She would be strong for them. She owed them that much. And she needed them to still be somewhat attracted to her. For overload purposes.

Sideswipe looked at Sunstreaker. Even without hearing the two of them, she knew that they were having an internal conversation over their bond. She tried to read their optics, their faces, and their body language. But they were warriors and as such, they were used to giving and receiving information while being secretive. And Carina knew that the two of them were probably deciding her fate. And she just looked like a fool, craning her helm to look at the both of them.

All at once, both mechs stilled and looked down at her. She shrank back into herself, scared of what was going to happen next. Would they cast her away and go for someone else? Would they simply leave her to herself? Or would they try to coddle her along, while secretly looking for a replacement?

Sunstreaker raised one large hand to the side of her face. He stared into her optics for a moment, before pressing the crest of his helm to her own. The hand on her face pushed gently, sending her to Sideswipe. Sideswipe's hand replaced Sunstreaker's, supporting her, helping her not strain her neck.

"We think that we've pushed you really far really fast. We know that deep in your spark you love us," He paused, throwing Sunstreaker a broad grin, before turning his optics back to Carina. "But you'd be crazy if you didn't love the two of us. I mean, look at us! We're the most beautiful bastards on this base. But, if you're not ready for the words, that's okay. We know you feel it."

He smiled at her, really smiled. And he was right. They really were the most beautiful bastards on the base. They may have even been the most beautiful mechs in the entire universe. But, there is no way that they were happy with this situation. She knew Sideswipe well enough to realize that he was coping the only way he knew how. With humor. And exploiting his good looks.

"I'm sorry," Was just about the only thing that would come out of her vocalizer. Desperately, she wished that something else could escape her. Something funny, something witty. Really anything other than what she was managing.

Two sets of arms wrapped around her, hugging her tightly. Tears started forming against her will. She had never felt this safe, this loved, this accepted, in her entire life. And it made her feel…odd. She'd never been loved in her entire life. Even the one mech who did all…this to her had never loved her. Of course, he said he did. And she had been young and stupid enough to believe him.

But these two slagged-up mechs sitting with her on the floor actually, really, loved her. In the most pure way. Well, maybe not. Sideswipe's hand on her aft was not what she would consider pure. Ever. And that squeeze wasn't exactly pious.

But the fact still remained that these two mechs really did adore her. And she adored them. So why couldn't she say the damned words? She was Carina the fearless. Carina the bold and the brave. But she was so easily felled by emotions.

With tears of cleaner running down her faceplate, she looked blearily into Sunstreaker's optics. His were clear, with seemingly no emotion in them whatsoever, but she knew that he felt something. He wasn't as untouchable as he thought he was. She would dig down and find his spark someday soon.

"Where do we go from here?" Carina asked, gently tracing Sunstreaker's chestplates. His plating was so smooth and he smelled so good. She simply couldn't keep her hands off of him for very long.

"Wherever we want," Sideswipe said, running a broad hand over her aft, cupping its roundness in his palm. Giving it another squeeze, just for fun. "Whatever you'd like to do." Sunstreaker's hands joined his brother's, squeezing and caressing.

"I think…I think that I'd like to have hot interface with the two gorgeous mechs currently cuddling me," Carina said, only to laugh when both mechs froze. Hands stopped in awkward places, but none of the group seemed to mind. They were all touching each other, and that was perfect in and of itself.

With an almost practiced grace, the two rose in tandem, keeping their femme between them. Fleetingly, she wondered how many other femmes they had taken together like this. She quickly pushed the thought from her helm. They were all hers now. Carina dropped her helm once more to Sunstreaker's chestplates. When neither of the mechs moved, her helm snapped up once again.

The berth was a mere few feet away. Why weren't they moving? She glanced up at Sunstreaker, to see that he was staring at Sideswipe with an intensity she had yet to see from the mech. What were they doing? She was here, basically prostrating herself in front of them. Shouldn't they be drooling over her body, dirty talking her or something?

No. Instead, they were making Grimlock look like a suitable source of interface. If she didn't get some, from somebody soon, she was going to go down the hall and ask Grimlock on a 'date.'

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe lowered her to her feet, but her knees weren't ready to support her weight and she nearly fell. Sideswipe's arm was the only thing keeping her semi-upright.

"Carina. Get up." Sunstreaker's voice was hard, not at all like the sexy bedroom voice he had been using.

"What the hell? Who the pit do you think you are, ordering me…" Carina's voice abruptly cut off as sirens drowned out her voice. Outside the room, she could hear the commotion of many mechs moving around the base, evacuating. With the lights flashing and sirens blaring, Carina could barely hear herself think, let alone hear the two of them.

Sideswipe grabbed her arm and pulled her into a standing position. He squeezed her forearm gently, giving her a remorseful look. Then, just like that, her twins were gone. In their place were two of the fiercest battle mechs that had ever graced the planet's surface. And given the level of activity outside the room, they were going to be needed. Soon.

Sunstreaker allowed his arm to transform, giving her a perfect view of his rugged blade. Seeing the lights reflect off the vicious piece of metal sent a shiver down her spine. All thoughts of loving and interfacing had suddenly disappeared from all three of them. Even her loving, boyish Sideswipe was suddenly a warrior. His posture was now ridged, his back straight and shoulders squared.

"What's going on?" She shouted at the top of her lungs as Sideswipe and Sunstreaker moved towards the door. There was no answer, but as the door opened, she knew that all hell was about to break loose.

Mechs were running up and down the hallway, frantic. Weapons were out and charged, giant swords the size of her torso were loose. At one point, Hound ran by with several other mechs, some of which were already leaking energon. Had the Decepticons actually managed to get into the base? No, couldn't be. Prowl had yet to order an official evacuation. For now, it was only battle orders.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker stepped into the fray as though they were merely taking her to the rec room to go get some energon. She had to admit, they were warriors. And damn good ones from what she had heard. But, there was a small part of her that had hoped she would not have to ever see them in action. It looked as though that dream was about to be shattered.

As one of the mechanics, she was not needed until after the battle. But, with the Autobots, it was all hands on deck when they were in danger. So, Carina pulled her small blaster out of subspace and caressed it lovingly, visually inspecting it, making sure that there was nothing that could potentially harm it.

When she looked up, she saw that both of her mechs were looking down at her with fierce pride and approval shining in their optics. With a nod to her mechs, she put on her best warrior face. Which, to the outside world, probably looked more or less like she was about to empty her tanks. Which she was seriously considering. She hadn't seen many battles in her day.

"Carina, we want to protect you, but we can't. We're frontline warriors, so we're going with Prime and a few of the others. So far, all the Decepticons are being held just outside the gates. Some of the mechs made contact with them a few clicks from here and had to haul aft to get back in time to fortify our defenses," Sideswipe paused, letting mechs jostle him as they ran down the hallway with abandon. He was just broad enough to act as a mech shield for her, protecting her from being turned into a tin can.

"Carina," Sunstreaker spoke up, "Stay with the bulk of the mechs, if you get pushed towards the front. If you can, stay inside the base. Cover the medbay, if all else fails. Don't be a hero. If you see someone fall, leave them. There are other mechs to deal with casualties," Sunstreaker grabbed her blaster out of her hands as he spoke, holding it up and looking though the sights. He tweaked the laser sights a little to the right. Beside him, Sideswipe bounced on the balls of his feet and spoke again.

"And remember to keep your helm down. A helm is an easy target for a good shot. Keep yourself in a crouch. Take cover when you can, even if it's just a downed tree or piece of metal. And that includes bots," He broke off, watching as mechs scurried around him. He turned his attention back to the only bot besides his brother he ever loved.

"When we get back, assuming we're in two pieces, we'll make love to you. We may need a shower and a wax…and a patch…but we'll make love to you." Sideswipe kissed her helm gently, hugging her to his frame.

"So, the bottom line here is…stay alive." Sunstreaker said, looking at her with nearly dead optics. Sideswipe glared at him for a moment, before releasing her and stepping away. As one single unit, the two started running down the hallway. Many mechs shouted at them, slapping their backs, cajoling them. The nervous energy permeated the hallway, making her uneasy.

Sideswipe looked back at her just before turning the corner. "See you soon, Carina! We love you!" And just like that, they were out of sight. Off to fight some of the ugliest and most vicious mechs she had ever had the misfortune to see and smell. And she was sitting there, in the middle of the hallway, looking like a love struck femme. She had more to offer than that.

With a deep breath to clear her vents and her helm, she took off after the twins. She wasn't exactly a seasoned warrior, but she knew enough to keep her own on the battle field. Or, so she thought. She had always taken it upon herself to be the femme who was there for others. Watching other bot's backs was her specialty. It was usually pretty safe, but made her feel like she was more than just the mechanic.

The hard work, for her, would start once the battle was over and they started assessing all the damage that had been done. But, for now, she could help her fellow Autobots. She would prove that she was more than a walking bad attitude. She was a pit of a good shot, too. When her target was an unmoving drone, at least.

As she ran after her mechs, she passed many bots in the hallways. The noise level was worse than when a tank of high grade was unleashed in the rec room. Mechs were shouting at one another while trying to answer comm-links. They were reading data-pads and analyzing data being sent from the battle front.

She didn't see any of the high command as she ran, which sent a chill down her spine for the second time that day. If all of the officers were in the field, that meant that the threat was large. In all the battles she'd ever been a part of, there'd been at least a few officers holding down the fort.

In this case, there was no one. Not a single officer. Sure, there were the usual suspects, but there was no one with any real power. Carina pushed her legs to move a little bit faster, hoping against hope that the Decepticons wouldn't breach into the base. She had to get outside, and fast. Her mechs and bots needed her.

Out of the corner of her optic, she noticed that the door she was passing had been wrenched clean off of its hinges.

*PING*

And just like that, she was on the floor.

*WHOMP*

And just like that, she was covered in energon.

"Up you get, little femme," Smokescreen pulled her to her feet. "You're awfully lucky I was walking by. If not, that pile of slag probably wouldn't have been nice enough to kill himself." With a creepily cheery grin, Smokescreen turned and made his way back down the hallway, the direction she had come.

*::Attention…Decepticons have breached the perimeter.::* Prowl's voice echoed over the overhead public address system. Carina snorted derisively as she looked around the now abandoned hallway. That would have been nice to know a few breems ago. It would have saved her a couple of hours in the shower, at the least. Energon was murder on the paint job. She wasn't jaded by the war. Not at all…

With a grimace, she set off to look after the twins. By this point, they had probably killed more than a few Decepticons. They would need just as much attention in the shower as she did. Maybe more. And she would help them get clean in any way she could. She just had to stay alive until then.

Carina shook her helm violently. Thoughts of interface during battle was a great way to assure that you would never get any. Because you'd be dead. She needed to get her helm in the game. Damn the twins for working her up and then leaving her. It had already been an exhausting day- mentally and physically. And it was just going to get worse.

By now, she could hear shots being fired. They were thunderously loud. Her audios started ringing, but she persevered, knowing she was getting closer to being outside. Outside was going to be much better than inside. There were more places to go. More places to run. More places to hide. More places to shout insulting things at the ones she loved and the ones she hated.

She came upon the blast doors; sunlight was pouring in. Dawn was just breaking over the horizon. She turned and vaulted outside. The sun bathed everything in an eerie red glow. The red was reflected in armor everywhere. Her optics were immediately drawn to two mechs in the clearing ahead.

Optimus Prime was the first figure that dominated the landscape. He truly was a magnificent specimen of a mech. He was broad and beautiful, but deadly. The second figure that drew her attention was Megatron. He was smiling, if you could describe it as such. More of a grimace of glee. But, he also dominated the landscape, yelling at his mechs and brandishing his giant sword.

As shots flew over her head and mechs ran around her, she remembered that she was in the middle of the battle. She looked to the left, there were trees; to her right was…rocks. Lots of rocks and boulders, and then more trees. Excellent. A shot impacted the wall behind her, spurring her into motion. She liked the look of the rocks much more than the trees. Bad things hide in trees.

So, she hid behind the rocks instead. Beside her was Mirage, one of the best Autobot snipers. He was holding his rifle steady on the rocks, taking shot after shot. She watched as his bullets faithfully found their targets, felling giants.

"How are you holding up? Need anything?" She asked him, sidling closer to the mech. It was the only way she felt useful. Asking bots what they needed and delivering. And, it got her somewhat closer to Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Even though she couldn't see them, knowing they were near was better than being trapped in the base.

"I'm fine, Carina," Mirage threw a grin her way. A smile came across her face, she simply couldn't help it. There were so many handsome mechs in her army. And she loved it when they smiled at her. "Keep your helm down, okay?" With a nod, Mirage dismissed her, still firing shots at whoever was stupid enough to stand still.

With a deep breath, Carina gathered her wits and peaked over the rock. The battlefield was…well…a war-zone. It was hard to keep track of who was who. Flashy paint jobs moving quickly made it hard for her to locate the twins. She focused on finding Sunstreaker's bright gold paint. There were few mechs who had the guts to paint themselves that garish of a color, even if it did look fantastic on him. She scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of her mechs through the smoke. Gun fire was making the entire area hazy. Mirage, next to her, gave a growly sigh and looked to her.

"Time to move, femme. It's too crowded and smoggy down here for me. I'm moving on. Look after yourself," He looked out over the rock once more, before turning back to her. "The battlefield is shifting closer to our position. If I was you, I'd try to meet up with Hound and his group, over there." One long, aristocratic finger pointed over the barrier to where Hound, Trailbreaker and a few other mechs were providing suppression fire. She could do that.

"Thanks, Mirage," She said, before turning and planning her route to get to Hound's position. To her dismay, there was a lot of open area between herself and the trees. Trailbreaker and Hound had moved a downed tree trunk as cover and were doing a damn good job of providing cover. However, she was about three hundred yards from their position. Three hundred yards was a long way to go with minimal cover. Especially for a rookie mechanic.

The terrain of the base was pretty typical of the area. They were in upstate Oregon, so the terrain was lush, but harsh. There were small rocks, big rocks, lush grass and trees. However, since they had decided this was going to be a permanent base of operations, the mechs had cleared the trees directly in front of the base. At this point, she would have given her left leg for some trees. Pit, saplings would have been fine. Any sort of cover.

::Hound. I'm trying to move to your position. Any advice?:: She asked over her comm-link, watching as the battle started coming closer and closer. Mirage was correct. For some reason, the mechs were slowly transitioning from the middle of the clearing over towards her side. A pang of real fear hit her.

It was time to stop worrying about her mechs. They were fragging gladiators. She, on the other hand, was a mechanic. They were experienced. She knew for a fact that Sunstreaker was a bloodthirsty mech, and Sideswipe was known to enjoy smashing a faceplate into the floor. She…well, she liked cuddling up with some broken, non-sentient machinery and tinkering. She'd never killed a person as long as she lived. Battles? Oh, there'd been a few. But she'd never really been in the thick of it like this.

::Well, sweetspark, I'd come around the front of that rock and run like pit. Give us a few seconds warning and we'll cover you from here, okay?:: Hound's response made her spark and pump speed up. Run? There must be at least a hundred mechs, all shooting and punching and stomping. And she was just supposed to…run?

::Hound. I'm not your sweetspark, and I'm only a little crazy. Run? That's the best you've got?::

::Yes. Run fast. Go now. Hound out.:: Was he nuts? With a glance over the rock, she saw that Hound was looking directly at where she was sitting. He was serious. A stray shot exploded right next to her, shattering the rock. Debris rained down on her helm and she knew she had to move. If she didn't, she'd explode just like the rock. Only… she'd be gooier.

Her legs started moving before her processor realized she was in motion. At this point, it seemed as though her instincts were her best bet. She took off, running with wild abandon. Her heels kicked up mud and dirt as she ran, covering her with the organic muck. Shots flew by her helm, spurring her faster. Decepticons and Autobots alike were shouting at her. Some were asking her to suck their rods, others were yelling at her to run faster. It didn't matter, she'd heard it all.

"Carina!" Was that…Optimus's voice? She turned in the direction of the shout, hoping to see who was shouting at her. That was her first mistake. As she turned, a giant of a mech stood before her. Only…he wasn't standing. He was running. It was just that he was so massive that it seemed like he was moving in slow motion.

She froze. The body that had spurred her into movement just a few moments prior had completely betrayed her. Her joints refused to move. She tried. She really did. Her mouth dropped open, but that was the only motion she was able to incite.

She was vaguely aware that every Autobot was shouting at her. They sounded muffled, and she realized that her audios were not functioning properly. The shot that shattered the rock had probably harmed her hearing. Not that she cared much at that moment.

She was a tad more preoccupied with the behemoth coming for her. He was huge, blue, and looked a little bit like he wanted to consume her. He got closer and closer and still fear paralyzed her. She knew that Megatron and Optimus were both running towards her. One wanted to save her; the other probably had no idea who she was, but was simply running because Optimus was running.

It didn't matter. The blue mech was going to get to her long before Optimus or Megatron did. The mech was speeding up, gaining momentum as he got closer and closer. He was now close enough that she could see his optics. They were blood red, but held a sort of intense glee. One of her feet stepped backwards, trying to get her away from the oncoming threat. As her other foot tried to follow, she found herself flat on her back in the muck.

Defeat rang true in her spark. She was going to join the well of Allsparks. She sent a quick prayer to Primus. Not for herself, but for all the mechs around her. Especially for Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, who deserved happiness. Sunstreaker was probably going to spiral into a deep depression after he went berserker. And he'd take Sideswipe with him.

She could actually feel the vibrations of very large feet getting closer to her. It made her helm ache. She was a mess. Her faceplate was muddy, she could feel it seeping into her joints and getting underneath her plating. Carina hoped that he would end her life quickly. As painlessly as possible. If not for her, than for the Autobots. None of them deserved to be tortured with the knowledge that one of the few femmes left was about to be killed on the battlefield.

The rising sun framed him perfectly. It blotted out all of his features, but made him seem as if he was a god. The reds and pale yellows of the sun bounced off his plating, making him shimmer slightly. His red optics were the only feature she could make out on his faceplate. Other than that, he was just a massive, dark figure. It was actually a little poetic. The lone mech, standing poised and backlit, ready to strike. At least Primus was sending her home in a poetic way.

To her surprise and chagrin, he didn't move. He just ground to a halt above her, silently taking in her profile. Maybe he was pitying her. Carina knew that she would pity someone in her position. Too afraid to run, covered in organic muck, prostrate on the ground. Yep. Sounded like a situation to be pitied.

And then…it moved. Blue knees hit the ground to either side of her. Mud and slime flew through the air, some of it hitting her, most simply squelched out from under his weight. Two gigantic hands planted themselves firmly beside her helm. She couldn't bear to look at his face, knowing he would kill her soon, so she settled with looking at his hands.

His fingers were now covered in mud, but she could see that they were stocky and broad. His palms were large, spanning an area that would have easily fit her entire helm. He must be a hard worker, for his hands to be so chipped and worn. He didn't seem to mind the mud, either. She felt a tingle of arousal prick the back of her processor. She'd always been turned on by mechly mechs.

His breath was hot and heavy on her neck and chest. It was a misty morning, and the humidity stuck to her plating like a second coat of paint. His breathing was doing to alleviate the discomfort. The hand she had been absently staring at lifted and came towards her. This is it. The end. She was going to die by those gorgeous, mechly hands.

Her entire body shivered and jumped when that hand made contact with her helm. His touch was so light, so gentle. It was almost more cruel than hitting her. Why be gentle to a femme, if you're just planning on killing her in a few moments? His long fingers wrapped around the back of her helm, rocking her helm back and to the side to face him.

His faceplate was not what she had expected. He was actually somewhat handsome. No, not really. But, he had a certain allure. His optics were red, intensely so. His mouth was flat, drawn into a frown. Before she really had time to get a better look, he shifted. His knees slid towards her torso and his hand tightened on the back of her neck. There was a squishy, wet noise as her back and legs unstuck from the mud. Just like that, she was cradled in his arms. And, just like that, she passed out, unable to handle any more data.

* * *

><p>Fear unlike anything he felt pierced through him. His sword came loose from the backplates of the mech he had just skewered. He had faced down giants of mechs, legends and myths. He even gone toe to toe with Megatron more than a few times. But this…this was more than any of that.<p>

When Sideswipe's fear had reached his spark, he knew that he wasn't hallucinating. Carina really was on her back in the mud and she really was being attacked. A myriad of mechs were running towards her, including Optimus and Megatron. Anger touched him. She was supposed to be in base, helping the mechs inside with whatever needed to be done. Just as quickly as he blamed her, he blamed himself. They should have just locked her in the room.

He started running, his sharp processor already working, trying to decide who to take out first. With his current trajectory and speed, he would end up right in the middle of the pack. It looked as though both sides of the fight were now running for the small femme. Carina would be so embarrassed if she had any idea of how many mechs were currently concerned about her. Internally, he screamed at her to run. Run anywhere. Get up and go. She didn't budge. Fear was ruling her.

When Optimus was felled by Megatron's blade, almost all the Autobots stopped. He had been leading the pack, and when the mechs saw their leader fall, they all stopped to assist. When they stopped, most of the Decepticons also stopped. They were currently in an all-out dog fight in the middle of the clearing. Optimus would be okay. He had a lot to live for. Sunstreaker's reason for living was much more mortal. And in danger.

He could see the flash of red still running after the Decepticons closing in on Carina. Sunstreaker drove himself forward, desperate to go help. When a mech dropped to his knees in front of Carina, his spark froze, but his body continued on. When the mech touched her, rage unlike anything he'd ever felt filled him.

Every Decepticon he overtook was ruthlessly slaughtered. A blade through the spark chamber, necks being sliced open, heads cleaved off. As long as they died, he didn't care. Sideswipe's rage was feeding his own, and together they fought. When they united, they fought back to back. Decepticons seemed to be spawning everywhere. They were going to be overwhelmed, but they still fought. They fought for each other and they fought for Carina. At least they had gotten to tell her that they loved her.

Sideswipe was the first one to fall. Pain burst over their bond, but still Sunstreaker fought. With more than ten Decepticons on him, he stood little chance. When a grenade was stuck to his arm, he was in trouble. He blacked out.

He was in even more trouble when he felt cold hands start to pull him up. He shook his helm blearily. His left arm was missing. But, there was no way in pit they were taking him. He struggled, he bit, he kicked. At one point, he was fairly certain he managed to sever an energon line, the mechblood thick in his mouth. The howl that rang with it was much sweeter than the blood in his mouth.

"Where is that fucking excuse for a medic?"

"Sedate him!"

"Hook!"

And just like that, he was out.

* * *

><p>It smelled like someone had let something rot. For a long time. Actually, it smelled a lot like his brother and his room. It was damp and cold. And he couldn't see anything. For some reason, he felt like he was on his side. His arm was tied to his torso, his feet were immobile. He was a prisoner of war for the first time in his life.<p>

Voices rang in the space.

"Why did Megatron have us take prisoners?"

"Something about wanting to experiment on the yellow one."

Silence permeated the room.

"What about the femme? Is she to share?" Sunstreaker's audios perked up. He hoped, somewhat sadistically, that Carina was dead. Or with the Autobots. Please, Primus. Do not let her be the femme they are talking about.

"No. Fucking Onslaught has been after her for a long time. Stalking her. I think there's a rumor going down that they used to 'know' each other." Sunstreaker choked on his growl. The inflection put on the word 'know' was a little too suggestive for his taste.

"Carina. Weird name." Sunstreaker grimaced and flinched, pain surging through his circuits. His bond with Sideswipe was closed. Which meant that his brother was either dead, or in stasis. Neither were good.

"Yeah. Whatever. If I can't fuck her, I don't care. Wouldn't it just be a fucking pity if she ended up out of Onslaught's reach for a while? Besides, Megatron might call on his rights and steal her out from under him. Megsy hasn't been fucked in a long time. I think he's getting tired of Thunderblast. I know I am." Their voices carried away from him, before the sounds of a blast door shutting cut them off completely.

Sunstreaker had never been a mech known for his piety, but that day, he prayed.

* * *

><p>Extra long chapter to make up for my suckiness! Sorry. I'm sorry. I know it's been forever, but my life has been hell. 21 units of college, writing my thesis. Writing competition papers, and then being asked to write one more competition paper. But, here's the good news. I figured out all the plot for this story. Which means that it'll be more fun and easier for me to write. I love it. Love. It. I hope it was unexpected and a little fun. Poor Carina. Poor Sunstreaker. Poor Sideswipe. Let's see if that coaxes some reviews out of you.<p>

The more reviews I get, the more motivated I am to write. Please let me know how you guys liked it. I had a lot of fun writing it. Sorry if Carina's a little weird in battle, but she's new. She's young. She's brash. She's fun to write. She's about to be even more fun to write. Reviews equal love and fast updates. Thank you all so much!


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you so much to those who reviewed the last chapter. Blitz-Krazi-1, Shadowabyss191, StarSwoop, Suki-Angel91494, Mercedes Wolfcry, SeekerLuna, Amkano, 'Hannah,' Elita-2, Kimmie98 are all the best people on this site. They took the time to review and give this author the warm and fuzzies for the last chapter. So now they get to feel the warm and fuzzies in return. If you review this chapter, you get warm and fuzzies next chapter. It's a mutual fuzziness thing…so review.

Also, my Onslaught is my take on his personality. As are all the Combaticons. Just a heads-up. And Hook, too.

I also have no idea who came up with the idea of a gestation tank. I'm sorry if it's yours, let me know and I'll cite you. It's just so widely used in fanfiction that it's lost its origin. Let me know and I'll give credit where it's due.

One last thing: this chapter is a tad gory. Just a warning.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"You seriously think that I'm going to let you do that, don't you?"<p>

"Of course you will," Onlaught smiled, looking perfectly reasonable. "You'll do it because I'm the only thing that stands between the entire Decepticon army ravaging your body and your death. But… you always have the choice," He moved aside, gesturing to the door with one broad hand. "Be my guest, Sweetspark. There are hundreds of mechs waiting for me to turn you over to the masses."

He smiled wolfishly, his optics flashing. Carina's fists balled by her sides, her optics reflecting pure, unadulterated hatred. She was angry as pit, knowing that there was nothing she could do. This was perfect. Onslaught had always been the thorn in her side. And now he was able to dig deeper and deeper until she was completely limp and pliable in his hands.

"You haven't changed at all, I see. Still the same slagging mech you were all those vorns ago," She paused, pushing hot air out of her vents. "You're sick. What are you going to do with me once you've had me? Send me out the door to those stupid mechs? Let them ravage me and tear me apart from the inside out?" Her finger tips were pushing into the soft metal of her palms with abandon.

"First of all, little femme, I've come damn close to taking you before. Secondly, now that I've got you in my grasp, you'll either stay here happily or I'll toss you out. I'm not going to play games with you, little one." The huge blue mech smirked and moved to lean against the berth in the corner of the room. The path between her and the door was completely unblocked now.

She could try to run, but there was no guarantee that she'd be able to go anywhere. He could be bluffing, of course. In all the vorns she'd spent in his presence, he'd been known to bluff her into submission. If he wasn't lying, however, then she was probably going to end up gang-raped by a bunch of smelly and rough mechs. Onslaught was the lesser of two evils, at least for the time being.

"You're such a glitch," Carina mumbled, knowing that he had her right where he wanted her. "I hate you. You've made my life pit for as long as I can remember."

"Luckily for you, sweetspark, I've come back for you. Now you don't worry about anything except for making sure that I'm happy." He leaned forward, propelling himself off the berth with a flourish. As he approached her, Carina remembered how large he was. He'd always been able to make her swoon when she was wrapped in his arms, the hidden femme inside of her loved feeling small and helpless. She remembered all those days of standing with him in a dark, cold room. He was always so warm, a beacon in her darkness. As time went on, though, she began to realize that there was a cold darkness lurking inside the mech, as well.

"I don't want to make you happy. You never made me happy and you followed me like a dark cloud for so many vorns! I hate what you've made me. I used to be so young and carefree. And then you were assigned to me, and my life came crashing down." She looked up at the hulking mech with pain clear in her optics. There was no use hiding it from Onslaught. He'd always had an uncanny ability to read her emotions regardless of how she tried to hide them.

"I think that you have a touch of selective amnesia, my dear one," He paused, stepping forward and sliding one large hand down the side of her chassis, smirking as she shuddered. "When I was assigned to you, I was nothing more than a body guard, someone to protect and shelter you. As I recall, it was you who showed interest in me, not the other way around."

Carina's optics flashed like cold fire. "You glitch! You know that you were after me long before I ever expressed interest in you. You were practically stalking me!" She pulled herself up to her full height, slapping at his hand, which had come to rest on her hip.

"Stalking you? My dear, I was your body guard. It was my job to stalk you. I had to know where you were, who you were with and perceive any and all threats long before they came to pass." He smirked down at her, his blood red optics piercing her own. A shudder ran down her spine as she remembered the range of emotions his optics could have. She'd seen everything from lust to hatred in those optics.

"What about the threat _you_ were to _me_? Did you fail to see that threat? You were hired by the temple for my protection! You weren't supposed to try to seduce me and make me worthless!" She hissed in his faceplate, her temper rising to meet her embarrassment in a harried rush. The result was explosive. She wanted nothing more than to rip off his faceplate and rip out his spark, just as he was ripping open her old wounds.

"Oh, please. You were slated to be nothing more than a drone for whatever high ranking mech put out the biggest bid for you. I was trying to do you a favor. I tried to show you that there was so much more to life than being locked in a cold temple, trotted out only to be shown off to mechs," He paused, looking at her with intensity.

Her optics fell to his chassis, knowing that he spoke the truth. His armor was thick and bore many scars and scuffs, a testimony to how many battles he had lived through. Carina's spark skipped a few pulses as she thought about how many times one of her own Autobots had tried to kill him. When his optics softened, turning a soft red, almost pink, her knees went a little weak.

"At least if I'd been sold to the highest bidder, I'd have been protected from this war. That mech would have had the spark and a large enough interface appliance to protect me." With that, she snootily pushed her noseplates up into the air, finding that spoiled femme that had once lived within her.

"Do not pin this me. I joined the Decepticons to make a life for myself. And for you, you ungrateful little slag," He paused, his optics darkening with anger. "I was going to come back for you as soon as I got clearance to take on a mate. I didn't get signed in soon enough to realize that they were going to attack the Hallowed Halls."

"Regardless, I'd already been abandoned by my parents and then selected to be a priestess. I was so young and I'd already lost all of the families I'd ever had. You were the first semblance of stability that I had seen in vorns. And then you abandoned me." The femme looked up to the mech, sorrow echoing in her voice and in her optics. Her faceplates were drawn together, knowing that there was no way to get away from him now.

"Look, Carina, if I could do it again, I would. But that's not really an option. I found you and now you're here with me. We can pick up where we left off, get to know one another again and be good together." His hand once again found purchase on her hip, thumb running circles around the soft plating. She shuddered with both arousal and disgust. The last time someone had rubbed her so intimately she'd been denied an overload.

"You took me away from my future then, and now you're taking me away from two mechs I love," She couldn't make optic contact with the blue mech, instead training her optics on a spot on the wall above his shoulder. "I can't believe that my life is falling apart when I just got it back together. You haunted me for vorns. I couldn't let anyone touch me. I couldn't let anyone know that I had emotions, that I could be hurt. And then I found the twins and they were just as fragged up as I am. We were great together, and you took that away from me. Again."

The hand on her hip tightened. His optics blazed, the red casting her in an eerie light. All of a sudden she realized who she was talking to, who she was bad mouthing. She'd heard rumors that he was the leader of the Combaticons, a group of transformers that could combine into one giant warrior. 'Bruticus' as the monster was called, had landed more than a few of her Autobots in the Medbay and killed many others. Onslaught's other hand gripped her upper arm, digging into the metal.

"You will not speak of them. They are now a part of your past, little femme. I am your present and your future. You belong to me. All of your energon now comes out of _my_ ration. Under Decepticon statute, you are my property. If I decide that I no longer wish to keep you, Megatron will have ultimate say on what happens to you. He might decide to keep you…or, he'll use you and then kill you," He vented deeply, moving his hand from her arm to her faceplate, cradling it and forcing her helm to tilt back and meet his optics. "The bottom line is that you'd be best to keep me happy. You're still you, so I want a fair amount of snip and lip, but when the day is done, you will warm my berth and drink my energon."

"I hate you so much." Carina stated with absolutely no inflection whatsoever. Simply a statement.

"False words, little femme. You and I both know that our history is far too…_intimate_…to simply forget. I can see it in your optics, sweetspark. You're already remembering us and our time together," A beep sounded and Onslaught tilted his helm to the side, listening to something or another. "It's time for us to be debriefed. Come along, little one."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The walk through the Nemesis was much akin to being lost in a labyrinth. Carina had half expected to see a monster to step out around every single corner. And she hadn't been disappointed. Mech after mech stepped into the corridor in front of her and Onslaught. Each seemed to be larger than the last. She noticed that Decepticons tended to be pointier than her mechs. Which made them so much more sinister looking.

Onslaught must loving it, though. She was attached to his side like she had been welded there. His right hand was attached firmly to her lower back, showing all of the mechs around him that he was her master. She tried to keep her helm held high and her posture upright. However, the more mechs that were in the hallway, the less significant she felt. She could feel herself wilting with each step.

The Autobots were truly screwed. There were so many mechs on the Nemesis. Far more than she'd ever seen on any base she'd ever been on. And she'd bounced around a fair amount when Onslaught had ruined her life the first time, and there had never been this many other beings around her on any of those bases.

They were all slowly but steadily making their way to a specific destination. They moved in perfect cadence, almost although they were marching. Carina felt like she was marching to her death. She knew that Onslaught would protect her to the best of his ability, but Megatron could easily challenge him for the rights to mate with her. And what was worse was that her carrying tank was intact and ready to harbor a sparkling. Of course, that would require her to take a sparkmate, but she wouldn't put it past them. Onslaught was obviously on board with that plan.

They turned yet another corner and funneled into a large room, which was packed with bots. Onslaught led her to a corner, pulling her in front of himself. With her back to his chest and his large arms wrapped around her waist, she was able to see the room in its entirety.

She and Onslaught were on the bottom level, which was littered with consoles and complex computers. Above her was a platform, she traced its origin to the wall above the door they had just come through. There was a set of screens at the very end of the platform, closest to herself and Onslaught. Suddenly, the room went silent, every 'Con in the room looked to the other end of the platform.

Carina stopped venting for a few moments. She'd long heard stories of Megatron. He could rip out sparks and tear off helms with his bare hands. He had honed his skills in the gladiatorial pits and it showed in his entire body.

He walked with grace and poise that belied his giant size. He was easily twice her height and girth. His shoulders were wide and his hips were narrow, lending to an aura of latent mechliness that was very becoming of him. He was gunmetal grey with purple accents, making him look both regal and dangerous.

It was his optics that ensnared her. They were an intense red, more so than any other Decepticon she had ever seen. They were cunning, seeming to cut through the space between himself and those he looked at. As he moved forward, scouring the crowd, Carina could see that he had been wounded in the battle. Part of his left knee was smoking lightly and his limp was small, but visible. His chassis was stained with grass and mud; it was obvious that he had neither gone to the washracks nor the medic since the battle had ended.

"My Decepticons," Megatron began to speak, his raspy voice echoing around the room with ease. "I congratulate you all on a job well done. Many Autobots were destroyed and much of their base now lies in ruin. Optimus Prime was able to push us back, but not before we were able to capture two from their ranks." His blood red optics scanned the crowd, moving forward when he laid eyes on Onslaught's hulking form.

When Megatron's optics slid from Onslaught to herself, she was transfixed. There was an almost alluring quality to the mech. He exuded a quiet confidence; his backstruts were straight and proud, his hands tucked behind his back. Carina could see a hint of his infamous Fusion Cannon peeking out from behind his mass. There was no denying that he was a powerful mech in nearly every sense of the word.

So when his optics locked with hers, she couldn't look away. She was so intent upon him that she didn't notice the rest of the room go completely silent; all optics had latched onto her. Onslaught's arm around her waist tightened a fraction, his only response to Megatron's blatant survey of the small femme.

"Quite a beautiful femme you've got there, Onslaught. I'm certain that you and your Combaticons will have a fantastic time showing her how Decepticons do business," The entire hall burst out in raucous laughter, several nearby mechs clapped Onslaught on the shoulder. Several others took the opportunity to shout obscenities and cat-calls to him. Carina clenched her jaw, unwilling to show the masses any sort of emotion. Emotion was weakness, especially to a crowd such as this.

"Our other…guest, shall we say, is going to be taking part in several of Shockwave's experiments. Sunstreaker, one of the berserker twins, was captured in the field. Shockwave has proposed several…intriguing experiments, all of which have the potential to give us the winning edge in this war. At this time, I've debriefed all of the command chain. Generalized debriefing will be done tomorrow. In the meantime, I will expect all of you to fuel, wash and perform general maintenance. Hook's medbay has been prepped, all of you requiring repairs will report there immediately," He broke off, casting his optics around at all the mechs below him. "All except for Onslaught and his new acquisition are dismissed."

Carina felt Onslaught tighten his grip on her, but she barely paid any attention. The static filling her audios was too loud and consuming for her to pay attention. Sunstreaker had been captured? Stupid mech! He was supposed to be the best of the best, second only to Megatron in the gladiatorial ring. Damn him! And with Shockwave getting ready to experiment on him…

"Carina. Look sharp," Onslaught said, pulling her back up against his chassis. She hadn't realized that she'd been sliding down the mech, she'd been so lost in her panicked thoughts. When she looked up, Megatron was fast approaching.

"Onslaught," Megatron nodded at her captor, stopping a scant foot away from the pair. It seemed that he was not at all uncomfortable using his size as a means of controlling his mechs. "May I?" He gestured vaguely to Carina, who looked up at Onslaught as best she could. Her neck craned to see his faceplate, but before she could properly see the look on his face, Onslaught had pushed her forward gently. Right into the arms of Lord Megatron.

Once Megatron's arms closed around her, her processor went dead. He smelled like dirt and death, all rolled into one. Her helm pressed against his abdomen and she was reminded exactly how large he was. One sharp silver finger descended, hooking beneath her chin and pulling her face away from his chassis. Carina desperately tried to look anywhere but his optics. She tried the ceiling and his mouth, but there really was a magnetic quality to his optics. She couldn't look away for long.

To her surprise, there was no lust in his optics. No heat. Just a cold, calculating look of indifference. Almost as though she was not a living organism, but rather an object. Megatron stepped away from her body, holding her at arm's length, before dropping his hands and tucking them behind his back. As he stood away from her, Carina realized that she had never felt this objectified in her entire life. Not even when Onslaught had left her.

No, true objectification was having someone walk around you, as though you were a piece of metal they were trying to value. She stood still as a statue as the warlord walked around her. There weren't many people that she would could still her tongue for, but Megatron was not someone she was going to mouth off to. Instead, she saved all the biting remarks. Onslaught would pay for this later; she'd make sure of it.

"She looks to be in fine condition," Megatron said, coming to a stop in front of her. "She needs to be taken for a medical exam as soon as we are done here. We need to make sure that her ability to conceive and carry sparklings has not been compromised. Until she is confirmed to be carrying, she will only receive energon that is taken from your ration. After she sparks, she will considered a fully-fledged Decepticon femme and will be fed from the main supply. Is that clear?" Megatron turned his piercing gaze to Onslaught, who simply nodded and saluted.

"Dismissed." Without another word, Megatron turned and mounted the steps to the platform, disappearing behind the door. Carina turned her optics to Onslaught.

"Not here. I'll explain everything in detail after you're examined and it's proven to me that I'm not wasting my time with a defective femme," Onslaught took hold of her arm, lacing his fingers through her own and tugging her forward. "If you want to be safe, you need to look like you like me. The more you act like you're attached to me, the more realistic you make my protection seem." Onslaught mumbled under his breath for a few seconds, hurriedly pulling her through a maze of halls, which were thankfully much emptier than before.

After a few moments, they reached an elevator, much the same as the one she had repaired with Sunstreaker all those months ago. She rounded on Onslaught, glad that they were the only two in the elevator. "Where is Sunstreaker? I swear to Primus if you filthy fragging Decepticons lay one disgusting servo on him, I'll rip you all apart!" By the end of her rant, she was nearly screaming at the Decepticon in question.

For a moment, Onslaught was completely silent. Then, to her chagrin, he started laughing. It wasn't a small laugh, or a chuckle, but a fully developed laugh. It was the type of laugh that one only exuded if something truly hysterical had happened. And when Onslaught slumped back against the elevator door, shaking with barely contained laughter, Carina deflated a little. There was nothing she could do to him or any of his fellow Decepticons, and he knew it.

"Oh, Carina," Onslaught choked on another laugh before continuing, venting quickly and shallowly to try and cool his overheating systems. "I'd forgotten how fearless you are, sweetspark. Or perhaps stupid is the better word for it. Although I am surprised that you didn't back-talk Megatron; maybe you are smarter than I thought." The elevator gave a dark beep, a much less friendly sound than her elevators made at the Autobot base. Suddenly she pined for home.

She followed Onslaught down yet another set of insane hallways, cutting through seemingly random rooms. Some of the rooms were filled with boxes and crates, while others were filled with what appeared to be spare parts. She was positive that some of the 'spare parts' had, at one time, belonged to another living organism. She resisted the urge to empty her tanks as she was dragged deeper and deeper into the ship.

It had already been an emotionally exhausting day. She'd woken up in a strange berth and upon seeing Onslaught sitting peacefully in the corner, had thrown a tantrum the likes of which this ship would never see again. After she'd calmed down a bit, Onslaught had given her a few sips of his energon and allowed her to recharge a little more. 'Allowed' is a loose term, because he more or less shoved her into the berth and tucked the blanket in so tightly that she couldn't have moved and then ordered her to recharge.

After she had woken from that, Onslaught had told her that she was expected to be his 'little femme.' She was to warm his berth, suck his rod and take part in all the debauchery he could come up with. And she was supposed to do it with a smile on her faceplates and be grateful for the opportunity.

She was a little ashamed to admit it, but she really hadn't spared a thought for either of the twins. For her, they were invincible. Knowing that Sunstreaker was somewhere on the ship and that he was now the plaything of Shockwave scared the living daylights out of her. It had been hard for to admit it to herself, but she loved both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Both of them were precious to her, and she wasn't going to simply let Onslaught take her and leave her chosen love to be disassembled for the sake of a crazy mech.

"Where is Sunstreaker?" A deadly calm washed over her, giving her the strength to stand up to Onslaught, if only for a few moments. He tossed her an irritated look over his shoulder before answering.

"In Shockwave's lab or in the brig, Carina. Stop worrying about it. He doesn't concern you anymore. The sooner you let go of him and embrace me, the sooner you'll be happy." Onslaught's tone was riding a thin edge between calm and angry. She'd heard that tone come from his mouthplates many times in the past and it meant that he was ready to snap. Thinking back on all the times he'd made her life miserable after pushing him over the edge, Carina stopped her questioning. She'd find a way to free Sunstreaker. And maybe herself, if she was lucky.

Onslaught turned one last corner, before stopping before the doors to a medbay. She only knew it was the medbay because of the giant glyph in the center of the doors, which was macabrely dripping paint, mimicking an energon splatter. She suppressed a shiver, hoping to Primus that she would never understand Decepticon humor.

"Hook! I've got the femme and she needs to be thoroughly checked out," Onslaught grinned, looking like the sparkling that had snatched the last goodie. A horrendous green and purple mech looked up from a nearby berth. The mech that was on the berth looked like he was heading to Primus- and fast. Energon was leaking from nearly every possible orifice and the presumed medic simply shrugged and then unplugged one of several machines. The mech stopped moving, falling silent.

As though he had not just willingly ended a life, the medic strode forward with an almost pompous gait. He stopped directly in front of her and looked her over. She shivered, remembering how Megatron had just done the exact same thing, but in a much more callous way. Carina was getting tired of being a 'femme;' she was ready to go back to being a 'mechanic' or even a 'bitch,' as many of the Autobots had said of her.

"Ah, yes. Lord Megatron informed me that I was going to have another femme coming to me today," The medic paused, pulling out a worn data-pad and scribbling wildly on it for a few seconds. "Right this way, both of you."

"Another femme? Who else is down here?" Onslaught asked, following the mech down the long hall, which was lined with berths. Carina stuck close to the duo; the berths were full of mechs sneering at her, wild looks in their optics.

"Nightbird is here. Lord Megatron felt that she it was time she retired from being a spy and put her more…feminine… gifts to use," The mech smirked back at Onslaught, a glint in his optics. "It'll be very interesting to see who Megatron decides to give her to. I'm guessing Shockwave. He mentioned something about wanting a protégé and an heir not too long ago. Their coupling would produce fine sparklings. Of course, Nightbird will be very unhappy to be sparkmated to a mech, but…such is life."

The medic pulled open a door at the very end of the medbay and stood back, allowing Carina and Onslaught to pass through. The room itself was painted black, making it look more like the inside of a cave than a medbay. Ratchet would have had a fit. Everything looked clean, but worn. Decepticons obviously did not pour many resources into having a decent looking medbay.

"On the table, little femme," The medic ordered her as he walked over to the wall of cabinets. Carina heaved herself onto the table, quite a feat, as it was obviously made for mechs. She sat perched at the very end, dangling her legs off the side and letting them sway. The awkwardness in the room was palpable. The only noise was the rustling of the medic's hands in the cabinets and her feet gently hitting the table.

"Alright," The medic turned, his hands full of medical supplies. Carina's tanks nearly dropped when she saw that he had all the supplies for a full tank check. Tank checks were extremely painful. Ratchet usually put all of his femmes under a general anesthesia during the procedure. But the Decepticon medic did not have any sort of painkillers in his hands.

"Go ahead and lie down and we'll get your tank checked. I'll check your valve, too, while I'm at it, okay?"

"You're not going to put me under?" She squeaked out, a little ashamed of her own weakness. "Tank checks are supposed to be incredibly painful." Both mechs in the room with her laughed, exchanging looks of amused exasperation.

"Sweetspark, this is the Decepticon medbay. We don't waste painkillers on little things. If you're going to be a proper Decepticon femme, you need to toughen up a little bit." The medic was still chuckling a little as he began to prep the bedside table with all of his tools. When Carina saw the amount of sharp implements being stacked, she nearly panicked.

"At least kick him out here!" She pointed at Onslaught, not wanting him to be in the room as she tried not to cry. And as her valve was exposed. And as her tank was exposed. All of those things were supposed to be between a femme and her medic. No one else was supposed to be invited. Both mechs answered at the same time:

"No."

After a moment, Onslaught spoke. "Wait a moment, Hook," Onslaught moved closer to Carina. "How about this, little femme. If you promise to wash me in the public racks tonight and let me stay through this procedure, I'll let you take the painkillers out of my personal allotment. What do you say?"

Carina thought as quickly as she could. She'd often washed Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. It was one of her favorite ways to relax and unwind from her day. However, washing Onslaught in public would only solidify her subservience to him. It might even give the Decepticons reason to think that she liked him. On the other hand, if she didn't agree, she was going to end up bedridden for a few days from the agony of a tank check.

"Just wash you? Nothing else?" Carina asked, her optics narrowed with suspicion. She still remembered how sly Onslaught could be. He'd often backed her into a corner with his reasoning and logic. He was smarter than he looked. After all, he was commander of his own bundle of mechs.

"For tonight, yes. A simple washing will suffice. I wish to allow you some adjustment time before we bond and have a brood of sparklings," He grinned at her, baiting her temper yet again. He truly remembered everything that set her off and made her stark raving angry.

Carina thought it over for a few moments. Was it worth being seen as a subservient femme? Could she take the pain? She knew that her pain threshold was pretty good. Cuts and scrapes were no stranger to a mechanic, but a tank check was a whole new ballgame. Ratchet often put his femmes on bedrest for a few days after one. And that was with general anesthesia.

"Fine. I accept your terms," Carina held out her hand, ready to shake his hand and seal the deal. Onslaught grasped her small hand in his own and pressed a kiss to the back of it before straightening and nodding to Hook. Carina watched as Hook pressed a needle into a small vial of black liquid. Hopefully it was truly a painkiller and not something more sinister.

"This isn't general anesthesia. That's far too expensive. But, local will give the same effect," Hook smiled down at her, but it was anything but comforting. "Just try not to watch as I cut you open. I think we'll start with a valve check…give the local a little time to set in." The needle sank into her main energon line, right above her tank.

Hook sank down and pulled off her port covering easily, setting it aside. With absolutely no lubricant, he sank two of his broad fingers into her valve. Carina gasped with pain and jackknifed off the berth. Onslaught's large blue hand descended on her chestplates, forcing her down and keeping her still. Carina felt pity for every single Decepticon femme to come through the medbay doors. Ratchet was a much better medic than this mech. She'd never call him 'Hatchet' again. Not after this.

"Hmm…her seal has been torn a bit, which is why I'm able to feel her walls. It's not gone, mind you, just torn pretty well," The medic said, pulling out his completely dry fingers.

"That is my fault. I broke her seal, but never fully took her. I plan on remedying the situation soon, make no mistake," Onslaught's optics fell on her faceplates, which were still twisted with pain. She really wanted to kick Hook in the faceplates. "I am a little surprised that no one has taken you in the vorns we've been apart, little femme."

"I didn't think anyone would want me. I'm damaged goods, or so you told me," She snarked back up at him, uncaring of her tone. She was cold, in pain and fed up with the entire situation.

"At least the pain killers are working," Hook said lightly as he pressed harshly on her lower chassis, right where her tank was. Carina turned her face to the side, starting resolutely at Onslaught's stomach as the medic picked up a scalpel. She heard him pop off the armor that resided above her tank and then felt pressure as the blade sank into her protoform. The scalpel would pry off the underlying plates and allow him access to her vital parts. It was somewhat hard to do, but femmes were designed to be tough to take apart.

Her optics offlined when she could no longer take the sight of Onslaught's defined stomach. To her surprise, a large hand came to rest on the side of her faceplate, covering her audio and muffling the sickening noises. Another hand rested on her two intertwined hands, which were resting up in front of her chassis. She must have looked like a pathetic child. Although she as loathe to admit, Onslaught's giant hands were soothing her more than she thought possible.

"Done. Wasn't that easy, little femme?" The medic's voice was muffled, but still incredibly obnoxious. "Her tank looks great, Onslaught. She'll be a creator in no time."

"My thanks, medic." And with that, Onslaught released her and picked up her abdominal armor and slid it into place with a pop. Then he walked to the foot of the berth and replaced her valve covering with a flourish. His optics met her own and he offered her a hand. Primus, how the mech confused her. He had confused her when she was a young priestess and he confused her now. She grabbed his hand, and he pulled her up into a sitting position. She knew that her insides would be screaming at her in a few hours, but at that moment, she felt nothing. Thanks to him.

As Onslaught picked her up and cradled her to his chestplates, they walked out of the medbay and started weaving back through the labyrinth of the ship's halls. Carina started to drift into recharge, hating that she was weak enough to start liking him again. He was a bastard from pit. But he could be so lovely when he wanted to be.

For his part, Onslaught was simply overjoyed that his new mate had been declared out rightly healthy by the medic and that her valve was exactly as he left it. As soon as Hook sent that information to Megatron, he'd be authorized to take her as a bondmate and then they could have as many sparklings as possible. Onslaught smiled down at the sleeping femme in his arms. He was going to have her yet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What the slag are you doing to me?" Sunstreaker barked, thrashing with all his strength against the chains holding him against the concrete slab. The few days he'd been allowed to recover had done him justice. He could feel the bonds pulling out of the concrete slowly. A few more hours and he'd be free. But it seemed that Primus did not favor him lately.

"I am simply going to conduct a few experiments. Would you like to hear about them?" Shockwave asked as he strode into the room, his purple visage as ugly as his blocky body. Scientists never seemed to be the most attractive builds.

"Why not?" Sunstreaker asked sarcastically, tugging at his bonds once more. "It looks as though we're going to be at this for a while."

"I'm looking at the bond you share with your twin. It's strong enough to be a complete bond, but weak enough to allow separation and possibly death. I can think of many uses for it," The purple mech flitted around the lab, tinkering and prodding many gadgets as he traveled around the room. "We could use the science to get more femmes with spark. Instead of bonding them to one mech, she could potentially have a sparkling by a hundred different mechs. Strengthen the ranks, make mechs work harder for the privilege. It could also be used in battle, as a temporary telepathic communication. Think of the possibilities! Of course, you'll never actually live to see any of them come to fruition."

* * *

><p>If you like my Megatron, you should go read my other fic, "Glory." Yes. I just shamelessly self-promoted. It was shameless. And I'm proud of that. Please review. If you review, you get a name drop at the beginning of the chapter. And that'll make you feel special. I know it will. It makes me feel special when people do it for me.<p>

And don't you all hate Onslaught? Or do you love him? I'm a little torn myself… But, there's going to be a lot more of Carina's crazy past coming up in future chapters. Plus, we'll catch up with Sideswipe!

And poor Sunstreaker. I love him, but I love torturing him more…


	10. Chapter 10

Real life sucks. On the bright side, I graduated in May and I only have nine credits to go this summer to officially graduate a year early. So…yeah. I'm sorry this took forever. I hope this chapter will go a fair ways to forgiveness… This chapter is really dark and sexual. Should probably slap up an implied non-con or dub-con warning for this chapter. It's about to get real. WARNING.

A Time for Everything

Chapter 10

Three solar cycles. That's how long she'd been with the Decepticons. Three whole solar cycles. As it turns out, that was all the time she needed to understand that she still hated Onslaught with a passion.

After her small relapse, in which she caught herself thinking that Onslaught wasn't so bad, she had remembered why she hated him. He was a slagger. Plain and simple. He'd forced her to go with him to every single meeting he had been called to, and would only give her energon if she begged. On her knees. If she was lucky, he wouldn't make her touch him. If not…she was at his mercy.

"Please. Please, Onslaught. I would love to have my evening energon." Her voice was as close to dead as she could possibly manage. Carina decided that she could have made a great drone, had she not been sentient. Unfortunately, she was sentient. Never before had she wished she was a drone. In her time as a slave to Onslaught, she found herself praying to Primus to be transformed to a drone. Or just offlined. Either would work.

Onslaught sat back in his chair, stroking his chin with one hand and sipping his own cube of energon with the other. His knees were spread wide, looking like a mechly king. It was all a power play. Luckily, Carina knew all of his plays. When she was younger and had a close relationship with him, he used his mechliness to do everything in his power to keep her subdued. This is no different. She just had to play his game long enough to get Sunstreaker and herself out of there.

"I don't think that you really want this energon, sweetspark. It doesn't sound like you are passionate enough or hungry enough," Onslaught paused, his hand stopping mid stroke, looking off into the distance. His optics darkened, a burst of heat coming off of his body. Carina sat back on her feet, leaning away from him as best she could. If anything, Onslaught had only become more…twisted in the interfacing department than he had when they were younger.

"Let's see, darling. If you really do want to have your energon, you should have no problem doing your master a little…favor, hmmm?" Onslaught smiled wolfishly at her, his dark optics casting light over her in the dark room. "Surely you understand that providing energon for you out of my own ration is taxing for me? You should have a little compassion for me, sweetspark." His optics surveyed her like a meal.

Carina shivered as he shifted in his seat, moving his crotchplate a little closer to her faceplate. Onslaught may act as though he was taxed, but he had yet to give her more than a half-cube of energon at a time. And he seemed to functioning at optimal levels. As if on cue, her frame shivered lightly, letting her know that there was not enough energon to fuel her heating or cooling systems. Excellent.

He really hadn't changed at all. After all, he had been the one to corrupt her. While he hadn't managed to actually take her virginity, he'd done more than enough to make her into the guarded femme she was. This was one of the things he had started with. Using underhanded techniques to get her to pleasure him. At least back when they were 'romantic' he had used the guise of love to get her to do things she wasn't ready to do.

"I hate you so very much." Carina snarled at him, but she stayed stock still, weighing her options. If she didn't get her energon, she would start shutting down in a matter of hours. If she didn't get fuel, she wouldn't be able to rescue Sunstreaker. Without fuel, she was useless. But was it worth the price she would have to pay?

"Ah. I see," Onslaught pulled himself to his feet, stretching his large frame. He swallowed what was left of his own energon cube, tossing the empty shell onto the desk behind him. "Well then, I guess you aren't that hungry. You may sleep on the floor tonight, my femme."

"Wait." Carina's voice broke on the word, but it made it out. Barely. But it was enough to stop Onslaught's massive frame. He looked over his shoulder, grinning like a maniac.

"Yes?"

"I am willing to pay the price."

"Excellent. I knew that you still had the ability to see reason, little femme." His large pedes shook the floor as he stalked back to his seat. As he sat down, he surveyed her from his height. Even seated, he was so much taller than she was. He had an ability to look at her as if she was insignificant. Nothing but a smear on the floor.

"My femme, you look so beautiful like this. Thighs spread, sitting on your little feet with such feminine supplication. Your chin pressed down, optics looking at the floor. You know who your alpha is. It's so incredibly sexy. I was wondering if you would remember all the wonderful times we had, which all started with you looking just like you do now." He sat back, crossing his legs at his ankles and shoving his feet under her faceplate.

"Of course I remember, Onslaught. I remember how many times you told me you loved me, and then forced me to give you pleasure, after which you would leave me wanting. I was so young that I didn't understand that a mech had a responsibility to give his femme pleasure, also. I was too young to know that you were the biggest piece of slag in existence, telling me that you would give me anything I wanted, but then taking advantage of me in basically every way you could think of. You make me so sick."

A giant foot shot up, catching her under her chin. It was a rough maneuver, but he didn't hurt her. Carina understood that it would have been too easy for Onslaught to take off her helm. Maybe he was mellowing out in his old age. But as her optics made contact with his own, she knew that there was no way that he had mellowed. If anything, the fury in his optics was stronger than she ever seen out of him.

"Perhaps, little femme, I should simply turn you over to my Combaticons and allow them to show you how a femme should behave in the presence of her master," All of a sudden, Onslaught laughed, his great frame creaking in time with his movements. "It would appear that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had yet to train you to their…tastes."

"What do you mean?" Carina trusted Onslaught about as far as she could throw him. Already today he had proven himself to be completely manipulative and he had even threatened her health. However, the longer she could keep him talking, the longer she could put off her…task.

"My dear, you really have no idea who those mechs are. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were known as being some of the kinkiest mechs from the time they were in the gladiatorial ring until long after they joined the Autobots," Onslaught looked into her optics. "What? You don't believe me, little femme? That's alright. You'll get to ask him in just a few moments."

"What about my energon?"

"It's too late now. We have to convene in the rec room. Shockwave has a gift for all of us. It's probably going to revolve around your precious twin. I can only imagine how he and his brother are feeling right about now. Shockwave is not exactly known for being…gentle…with his patients."

* * *

><p>"I slagging hate this," Ratchet leaned her helm on his desk, moaning when Moonracer's gentle fingers traced his chevron. "I can't help Sideswipe until I can figure out what they are doing to Sunstreaker."<p>

"I know, Ratchet. I'm so sorry. This is killing you, but there's nothing you can do. I want you to focus on making Sideswipe feel better, both physically and mentally. Try not to think about Sunstreaker. There's nothing you can do for him, but Sideswipe you actually can help. Now, get off your aft, stop moaning and go help your patient. Red Alert has not been off duty in joors."

"You, my femme, are so…so…"

"Beautiful? Lovely? Fetching?"

"I was going to get to that eventually." Ratchet grinned, lifting his helm off his desk and stretching his worn limbs. It was almost time for him to replace his wrist joint once again. For that, he would need Moonracer's help, so he wanted her happy.

Ratchet picked up Moonracer's hand and pulled her to her feet, placing a kiss on the back of her knuckles. He gently pulled her along with him until they were standing outside the room that Sideswipe was being held in. It was a full security medical bay, used when larger mechs were on the edge of insanity. For her safety, he wouldn't allow Moonie in the bay with him. She was just too small. If Sideswipe lapsed into a berserker rage, she wouldn't be large enough to restrain him. And she wasn't large enough to protect herself if he came at her. It was a bad combination.

"Until tonight, Moonie." Ratchet said, pressing the crest of his chevron to the top of her helm. Life was simply so much better since the two of them had reconciled and decided to reinvigorate their relationship.

"Tonight, Ratchet." Moonracer said knowingly as she walked down the hallway to the front desk of the Medbay. At least he could rest easy knowing that his Medbay was in her extremely capable hands.

He pulled open the door to Sideswipe's room, steeling himself. The mech in question was laying prostrate on the berth, one arm slung over his optics. Red Alert stood at the side of the berth, holding Sideswipe's other arm, taking measurements.

"Sideswipe, how are you doing?" Ratchet asked, stepping forward and pulling up his vitals on a datapad.

"Feel like slag. My spark is going crazy. I feel like it's trying to leap out of its case," He spoke in short spurts, his vents heaving with the effort of cooling his frame. "And if that wasn't enough, I think I might toss my contents. My tanks keep rumbling."

Ratchet stepped forward, taking Sideswipe's arm from Red Alert, giving the other medic a nod and a signal that his shift was now over. A quick visual inspection of Sideswipe showed that there was nothing new to report. Whatever Shockwave was doing was internal to Sunstreaker. If it was physical abuse, Sideswipe would be untouched, but angry. Instead, he was miserably sick.

"If you have to empty your tanks, try to let me know so I can go ahead and get a bucket. Or would you like me to get one just in case?" Ratchet placed his hands on Sideswipe's chassis, gently easing the plates apart. His spark looked fine, steady as always.

"I would like a bucket, please. That way I can go ahead and toss my contents whenever I want, without fear of the Hatchet." Sideswipe said, his voice completely flat, no humor whatsoever.

"Alright, I'll get you a bucket. What sort of emotions are you getting from Sunstreaker?" Ratchet asked, walking over to a storage closet and grabbing a bucket, placing it by the bedside.

"Fear. Not for himself, I think, but for Carina." Sideswipe lifted his arm off his optics and glanced at the bucket on the floor, engraining its location in his memory, just in case it was needed.

"That's normal. It's Sunstreaker's possessiveness coming out in full-force. As an attached mech myself, I would be furious and fearful if my femme was kidnapped by those bastards." Ratchet said absentmindedly, making a few notes about changes in Sideswipe's demeanor on his datapad.

"I am furious. I'm going to kill all of them. Once Sunstreaker dies, I'm going to be uncontrollable, Ratchet. You know that I'm just as aggressive as Sunny. Just…let me kill as many as I can before you kill me," Sideswipe met Ratchet's shocked optics. "I know it'll be you who has to kill me, Ratch. They'll wrestle me down, but it'll be you who kills me with some sort of chemical. As an attached mech, you understand. Let me kill as many as I can before you take me down."

"Sideswipe. There's a good chance that we'll be able to get Sunstreaker back. As soon as he's back in this Medbay, I'll have him up and running as soon as possible. You know that." Ratchet said gently, refusing to acknowledge that he would be the one to kill Sideswipe, even if he knew it was the truth.

"No, Ratchet. He's in rough shape already." Sideswipe's clear blue optics bore into his medics with an intensity unlike anything Ratchet had seen before.

* * *

><p>"Look at him!"<p>

"Oh, damn, I've wanted to see him in pain for vorns."

"His paint looks like it's been flayed off with a rusty electro-whip."

"Autobot scum."

Carina was pushed through the hostile crowd with ease. Onslaught's hand on her lower back ensured that she would move at whatever pace he wanted her to move at. There was no negotiating with the Decepticon, no matter how hard she tried.

As she listened to the mechs around her, she realized that Sunstreaker must be in the room with her. She simply couldn't see him over all of the much taller mechs pressing in on her. She couldn't help the elation that filled her as Onslaught pressed her towards the front of the room. She was going to see Sunstreaker for the first time since they had been abducted.

Once she saw him, however, her elation escalated into true horror. Her spark sped up, making her feel light headed and sick. For a terrifying moment, she thought that she was going to pass out in a crowd of Decepticons.

Sunstreaker, or what was left of him, was hanging from the ceiling of the rec room. He was a mess. His paint was stripped, the golden hue giving way to the primer. Even more horrifying were the large chunks of plating that were twisted and melted. In some places on his frame, there was no plating left to speak of.

Worst of all was his beautiful faceplate. One of his optics was shattered and dark, the metal around it showing stress. Someone had hit him very hard, causing it to sit a little too far into his face. The rest of his faceplate, his gorgeous faceplate, was almost unrecognizable without any paint. In fact, she wouldn't have been sure it was Sunstreaker without seeing his powerful frame and hearing all the Decepticons sneer his designation.

His other optic was offline, but he was facing her direction. If only he would activate his sensors and look at her. At least that way she could be sure that he was still alive. For all she knew, this was some sort of twisted Decepticon funeral.

"Ah! I'm so glad all of you could make it!" Shockwave's smooth, aristocratic voice rang throughout the large space. He was huge. Carina gaped at the scientist. He was so…different…than the other Decepticons. Actually, he reminded her of Megatron in a way. The way he carried himself was much like Megatron…a mech who knew he was in control. Knew he had power. Not only did he know he had power, but he had the ability to wear it like a second frame. It clung to him.

"My friends! I present to you: Sunstreaker," Shockwave paused in front of the prostrate mech, one large purple finger reaching out to flick Sunstreaker's helm. He waited for a moment before repeating the gesture more roughly. Carina held her breath. Shockwave lifted his finger one last time, this time sending an electric pulse through Sunstreaker's working optic.

Carina gasped aloud as his entire frame writhed against his chains, unable to ignore the pain. His optic flickered to life, agony and ferocity reflected in its depths. One of his large pedes made a quick swipe at Shockwave, who merely stepped back a step to avoid being hit.

"As you can see, he is quite resilient. Three solid days of my most creative torture, and he still lives. Indeed, he still wants to kill me. His spirit remains strong. It is truly incredible. I brought him here in order to make a spectacle of any filthy Autobot who thinks he is invincible." Carina shivered as all the room seemed to swell. All the mechs around her roared with pleasure, pressing in on her. The noise was deafening.

Her optics could not leave Sunstreaker's broken and battered body. He had yet to even notice that she was in the room. Carina craned her neck, trying subtly to attract his attention, but avoid Shockwave at all costs. She just wanted to show Sunstreaker that she was here. She would rescue them. Somehow. As she raised herself onto her tiptoes to get a better look, a purple chassis appeared in front of her nose.

"Ah. My dear, it is so nice to finally see you out among us." Shockwave's finger, the same finger that had shocked Sunstreaker, touched her chin and raised her helm to look at him. "I was so anxious to meet you. After all, Sunstreaker spoke very fondly of you as he was screaming from the torture I was inflicting upon him." Carina shivered as the Decepticons roared with pleasure yet again. Shockwave's finger began to stroke her chin slightly, making her spinal relay tighten.

"Come with me, dear spark. There is no reason to be frightened," The room laughed again as Shockwave's arm wound around her waist and pulled her toward Sunstreaker. "Here is your lover, darling. Look at how weak he is." Shockwave's freakishly long fingers stroked her waist with a long, luxurious stroke.

Carina did not notice how 'weak' Sunstreaker looked. Instead she was focused on how intensely he was looking at her. He had yet to speak. She did not know if this was due to the fact that he did not wish to, or if he was unable. It did not matter. His optics were speaking much louder than his vocal processes ever would have.

They darkened, but not with lust, as was his usual. They darkened with sadness and grief. Worry clouded the grief, but did not obscure it. The last layer of emotion in his optics was tender love. It seemed that Sunstreaker's time in captivity had allowed him to figure out what he felt for her. And it was love. From the looks of it, it looked like it was a passionate love. In another time, and another place, Carina would have adored Sunstreaker to be chained. Right now, however, it was simply painful.

"Lovers are so beautiful, aren't they?" More laughter resounded in the room. It occurred to her that she'd never heard the Decepticons laugh so much. It figured that they would laugh as a mech was being tortured and tormented in front of them. All of a sudden she pined for the Autobots and their gentleness, even when she was being less than friendly. At least they wouldn't try to make her earn her energon through sexual acts.

"Well, Sunstreaker? Are you overcome with tender emotion at seeing your femme? Or are you ready to surrender her back into the reality of her life? She is a prisoner of Onslaught, in a Decepticon base. She'll be carrying either his sparkling or the sparkling of one of his Combaticons within the vorn. Or, if things go very poorly for her, she could end up in Lord Megatron's harem. We all know how fickle our Lord can be when it comes to his more…carnal…needs."

"Go to pit." Sunstreaker gasped out, his voice sounded like gravel crunching beneath his tires. Carina felt some of the tension of her frame ease. He could speak, if he really needed to. That was a good sign. His feistiness was also still with him. His body may have been broken and battered, but his spirit was still intact. As long as his spirit was still with him, Ratchet could fix the rest of him.

"I am well on my way, as are you, gladiator." Suddenly Carina was dragged into Shockwave's chassis. He was very warm, but there was an aura of pure evil that seemed to roll off of him. She repressed her shudder of revulsion, frightened that Shockwave might take her shudder for one of pleasure, rather than disgust.

The room fell silent. Unnaturally silent. Shockwave spun with Carina in his arms, turning to face the doors. Megatron and Starscream entered the rec room, moving quickly towards Shockwave.

Megatron stopped just in front of Shockwave, standing so close to Carina that her cheek touched his lower chassis. Personal space was not something that seemed to be of much importance for slaves of the Decepticons.

"Shockwave. The Autobots have just breached our perimeter. It is time to rally the troops. And since you seem to be enjoying your oration, you may continue and get the mechs ready for battle." Megatron leaned forward slightly threateningly as he spoke, forcing Carina to lean back against Shockwave to avoid having her face squished between two large chassis.

"As you wish, Lord Megatron."

* * *

><p>Sorry for the shorter chapter, but that was where I wanted to end it. Time for battle. Time for reviews. This story is going to start wrapping up soon. I hope you all with stick with me as we finish this bitter sweet story.<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

A Time for Everything

Chapter 11

* * *

><p>The heat was blistering. It was unlike anything she had ever felt in her entire life.<p>

The noise was audio-shattering. It, too, was unlike anything she had ever heard in her life.

She made it to Sunstreaker, hands plastering themselves to his chassis, desperate to feel him. Feel his sparkbeat. Make certain that he was still alive.

A cold, sharp hand landed on her shoulder, pulling her away from her lover.

A scream.

It was hers.

* * *

><p>"Wake up, Carina!"<p>

A few seconds trickled by, followed by:

"It's okay, sweetspark."

Her optics faded in and out, glimpses of light trickling in and out. Her helm ached. Throbbed with the beat of her spark, letting her know that she was alive.

A slight pressure landed on her shoulder, pushing her down into the berth. Onslaught. Panic exploded through her circuits, forcing her optics on. She focused on the mech hovering above her.

"Ratchet?"

The bulky mech smiled down at her, his optics softening at her panic. His hand softened also, petting her shoulder with all the experience of a mech who had been in a stable relationship for many vorns. It was the touch of a mech who was used to femmes and their emotions.

"It's alright, 'Rina. You're back with the Autobots. You just got out of surgery, so feeling a little bleary is perfectly normal."

The words floated into her processor, but took too long for them to make sense. Ratchet continued his stroking of her shoulder, knowing that it would take her a few moments to get her thoughts together.

"What happened?" She asked, confused beyond reason.

Ratchet regarded her for a few moments. "What do you remember?" His hand stilled on her shoulder, and the large mech gently sank down into the chair by her bedside.

Carina thought very carefully, trying to shake the fog away. Wait a second. Why was she foggy? Ratchet had said something about…surgery?

"Why was I in surgery?"

Ratchet sat up a little straighter, looking piercingly at her. "You really don't remember anything, do you?" At her blank look, he sighed. "When we rescued you and Sunstreaker from the Decepticons, you were involved in a skirmish with a mech named Onslaught." Ratchet rubbed a hand over his faceplates, looking every inch the weary CMO he was.

"I remember Onslaught. He and I had a relationship for vorns before I joined the Autobots. It seemed that he was still…taken with me." She blinked up at her medic, her hand clutching the berth beneath her.

"Did he rape you?"

"Not exactly. He forced me to work for my energon, but my spark is my own. As is my valve."

Ratchet's level gaze made her uncomfortable. Carina looked away, slightly ashamed of all the things she had to do to get her energon ration from her captor.

"Carina. Don't be ashamed. Just tell me what he did to you, sweetspark. It'll make things better for you." Ratchet leaned his head back, one hand scratching and rubbing his throat. For the first time since Carina had known the medic, he looked truly tired. Weary. "Unfortunately, I've dealt with many femmes who have been corrupted at the hands of the Decepticons. Talking about it helps. I know it's painful, but it is the first step towards healing."

The meds were starting to drain out of her system. She could almost feel her processor speeding up, delving into her memory files for any indication of what had happened while she was aboard the Decepticon ship.

"How long was I unconscious?"

Ratchet's helm leveled once again. He sighed, dropping his hands back into his lap and giving her a slightly exasperated look. "Since you seem to be unable to answer my questions, I'll go ahead and tell you what I know."

"I'm sorry." Her helm dropped, embarrassment filling her. There were things she was supposed to remember, supposed to know. But she couldn't gather her thoughts well enough to ask the important questions.

"It's alright, Carina. I'm just a tired, grumpy old medic. Here's what I know. You were onboard the Decepticon vessel for a little over an earth week. Both you and Sunstreaker were-"

"SUNSTREAKER!"

Wires went flying in all directions, the berth moved with a violent screech, but before she could move very far, strong arms clamped around her waist, hoisting her into the air.

Pain. Pain like she had never known before surged through her circuits, making her freeze. Her body refused to move, ignoring the commands of her processor.

"Carina! Stop it! You just got out of surgery."

A flash of color appeared in the doorway. "Do you need help restraining your patient?" Moonracer's gentle smile immediately diffused the panic in the room. She moved towards the berth, sliding it back into its proper place.

"I've got it, Moonie. But thank you."

Ratchet sat Carina down on the berth, his large hands examining the metal of her abdomen, tracing the weld lines.

Moonracer laid her delicate hands on Carina's faceplate. "Relax, sweetling. Relax. Sunstreaker is just fine. So is Sideswipe. I just left their room to come and check on you. Sunstreaker suffered a few injuries from his time spent with the Decepticons. The rest Ratchet should tell you. But, they are both alive. We've had to keep them sedated so they don't ransack the base to get to you."

The good news hit Carina like a brick to the side of the helm. Her mechs were alive. They were living, venting and more or less healthy. She sagged against Ratchet, who accepted her weight as though it was nothing. To him, it probably wasn't much.

"Alright, Carina. Here's what happened…."

* * *

><p>Carina looked up into the faceplate of the mech she had been taught to fear ever since the war first started. Megatron. He smirked down at her, his optics promising dark and dirty things if they both lived through this assault. Shockwave pressed harder into her, ignoring the small squeak she emitted. Being smashed between Sunstreaker and Sideswipe was something that set her spark on edge, wanting more. She transformed into a wonton beast with her two mechs, a needy and sensual beast. But being trapped between these two mechs was nothing short of terrifying.<p>

Alarms began ringing, calling the Decepticons into action. All around them mechs ran about, attempting to form groups. Leaders began calling out strike patterns, gathering their warriors to them. Between the alarms and the screaming, Carina's audio unit felt like it was malfunctioning.

Megatron and Shockwave stood still, trapping her between them. Carina tried to turn her helm to look at Sunstreaker. Megatron's hands dug painfully into her sides, claws leaving small scratches in her paint. She froze, knowing that he could much worse to her if she continued to go against his wishes.

She could hear Sunstreaker screaming, but she couldn't make out what he was saying over the ruckus. Grimacing, Carina put her helm back down, choosing to play the part of a femme in distress. Not only that, but her Alpha-submissive programming was kicking in. Both Megatron and Shockwave were large, powerful mechs. It was safer, in the short term, to be submissive.

An explosion rocked the base. Heat and fire quickly followed. She pitched forward into Megatron, who caught her easily, chuckling as her faceplates heated. Shockwave's brilliant purple form moved quickly in the direction of the explosion.

Her chin was yanked up, optics forced to meet Megatron's blood red ones. He spoke, "Now, my dear, I must turn you back over to your handler. Be a good femmling for him, yes?" Her spinal relay shivered with anger. She was not a femmling. Especially not for Megatron. A pat to the helm proved otherwise. To them, she was just a pet. A plaything to impregnate and relieve stress upon.

A sharp hand pulled her back into a cold chest. Her feet moved against her will, backing her into another mech's chassis.

Her anger was short lived as she soon found herself back in the arms of Onslaught. Her hope and resignation battled with one another. If the Autobots did not manage to save her, she would become nothing more than a receptacle for their…amusements. Then again, her Autobots had managed to save more than one 'Bot from a life with the Decepticons.

Onslaught took her by the arm and forcibly dragged her to the door. Her optics met Sunstreaker's as she looked over her shoulder for him. His optics were fierce, instilling her with even more hope. If Sunstreaker could still be that ferocious bloodied and battered, then she could have faith that the Autobots would rescue her. He nodded towards the door, signaling her to go with Onslaught. Disbelief flooded her, every circuit in her body was screaming at her to go to him and get him down. But then her processor reminded her that there was no way she had strength to get him down by herself. With a grim nod, she went with Onslaught, planning her escape.

With a particularly vicious yank, Onslaught drug her out the door and down the hallway. The heat of the explosion and its consequent fires made her dig her heels in, pulling back against him. Blasts of gunfire could be heard nearby. She hoped against hope that it was mainly Autobot weaponry. Onslaught growled, pulling her forward, towards the sound of weapon discharge.

A hand grabbed her mouth, another arm snaked around her waist and pulled. Pain slid through her arm and shoulder joint as she slipped free of Onslaught. Onslaught turned, his own arm transforming into a weapon. With a shove, she hit the floor as all hell broke loose. She twisted to get on her hands and knees.

Jazz grinned down at her, shouting at her to go back the direction she had come. He tossed her a small blaster as several other Autobots joined the fight, coming from the other side of the hallway. They had Onslaught well trapped. Carina wrapped her fingers around the weapon, scrambling to her feet and deadening the pain receptors in her arm. It would heal soon enough. And Onslaught would be dead soon enough. Her day was looking up.

Sunstreaker, on the other hand, might not heal at all, if she couldn't find him and get him to a medic. She ran down the hallway, skidding into the room that held Sunstreaker. There were two Decepticons in the room with him. She channeled her anger into her blaster, letting loose a volley of fire, felling both of the mechs quickly and efficiently. It was not the first time she had killed, but it may have been the best she had felt while doing it.

Sunstreaker looked at her through dimming optics. He was hanging on by a tread, figuratively speaking. Literally, he was hanging by chains. She stepped away, evaluating the situation. She tuned out the heat and the noise, trying her best to stay aware of what was going on behind her. Getting shot in the back was one thing she did not want.

She stepped away from him slightly, aiming her blaster carefully. It took four shots for her to make contact with the chains. They melted quickly, dropping Sunstreaker to the ground with a jarring thud. Carina gasped, hitting her knees beside him. All of the ferocity in his optics seemed to have disappeared. He looked up at her with a hint of pride and her throat closed.

Before she could register what happened, heat seared her side. Sunstreaker let out a ragged yell, panic flooding his circuits. His Alpha programming screamed at him to protect his femme. And he had failed. He scooped up her blaster, aiming at the Decepticon mech who had shot his precious femme. Before he could discharge the weapon, the other mech fell to his knees, a flash of red falling with him.

Sideswipe stood, fury written all over his faceplate. His optics were dark and murderous. Sunstreaker was glad to see that his twin was alive and well, taking out his rage upon Decepticons. If he wasn't so beaten and bloodied, Sunstreaker would have grinned and joined his brother in the slaughter. Ever since meeting Carina, they had both relaxed their bloodlust, but the need still coursed through his tubing.

Sunstreaker pulled himself up onto his knees, leaning over his femme. He inspected the wound in her abdomen. Her plating was charred and a hole was visible. It would heal, but she would need a medic as soon as they could get her to one. Sideswipe's voice carried over to him.

"Sunny. You look terrible." Sideswipe's mouthplates were grim, his entire body nearly vibrating with tension.

Sunstreaker gave his twin his best grin. "I always thought I was the better looking one. Guess there's a first time for everything, huh?"

Sideswipe hit his knees beside his brother, placing his hand gently over her own. "Is Carina alright?" He asked, his optics searching Sunstreaker's. Their bond opened, emotions cascading between the two. Sideswipe's question was not about her current state; anyone with field experience could tell that the wound was not fatal. Simply debilitating.

"She's okay. She's tougher than she looks." Sunstreaker stroked his brother's spark through their bond, knowing that she had faced many horrors over the past few cycles. It would take time to heal, both physically and mentally. They would have to spend many hours in each other's arms, loving each other openly. There would be no room for falsities any longer. No vapid seduction. Only love.

"C'mon. We need to get out of here and back to base. Both you and Carina need medical attention. Ratchet is going to have his foot in your aft for weeks." Sideswipe stood, bringing Sunstreaker with him.

"Usually it's me having to drag you off the battle field. This is almost surreal." Sunstreaker gently bumped his shoulder into Sideswipe's, wishing his brother would crack a joke with him.

"Stop speaking. Your voice sounds like pit." Even as the gentle rebuke hit his audios, there was a stroke of fire in his spark. Sideswipe's anguish was replaced with love and joy that he and his twin had been reunited. As Sideswipe looked down at the floor, his positive feelings faded. Carina was unconscious, having succumbed to the pain long ago. Darkness welled up inside both of the twins, feeding malcontent back and forth.

The urge to hunt and kill all who would harm their femme coursed through them. The feeling was not altogether foreign to the gladiators, but the need to protect their femme took precedence over murdering every single Decepticon they could find.

Sideswipe called for backup, contacting Jazz and a few other Autobots. They would be needed to help get Sunstreaker out to their transport. He could not get Sunstreaker and Carina to safety when both of them were so damaged. Carina would be alright, but she also was not used to being injured. There was a fair to good chance that his little femme could be panicky if she came to in such misery. It was his duty to be there for her, to calm her and reassure her. He would be there to protect her forever more.

Sideswipe held Sunstreaker under one arm, while keeping his blaster trained on the doorway with the other. The echoes of gunfire and vulgar shouts bounced towards them, but Sideswipe kept himself still. He longed to join in the battle, show the Decepticons that to take from him was a death sentence. For his family's sake, he held his position and waited for backup.

The wait wore on, to the point that even Sunstreaker, wounded and damaged as he was, shifted restlessly. "Sunny. You're leaking. How bad is it?" Sideswipe looked over at his brother, affection glowing in his optics, a gentle teasing light finding its way back to him. "Carina's passed out. She won't hear about your agony."

"Aft. I'm weak. I haven't had energon in cycles. Shockwave took it upon himself to mess around in my sparkcase. I'm sore all over." Their optics met, gentle affection meeting a deep seated agony. "I don't know what he did to me, but it's not going to be good, brother. Something is not quite right. I'm amazed I can still feel our bond."

"Slaggin' Decepticreeps. Sorry it took so long, fellas. Whoa. Sunshine, not looking so good. Slag! Is Carina…"

"Jazz! Calm down. Carina's fine. She just took a small blast to her abdomen. She'll be alright. Sunstreaker needs Ratchet. Now." Sideswipe helped Jazz get a hold of Sunny, giving the two of them a small push towards the doorway, where several other mechs were waiting to give them cover. "Let me grab 'Rina and we'll head out."

Several affirmatives rang from the hallway, and Sideswipe was grateful for all the mechs around him. He and his twin were not always the most celebrated and beloved mechs in the Autobot ranks, but today, none of that mattered. They were all a family and every single mech was angry beyond reason at the Decepticons.

He gently scooped up the femme off the floor. A twinge of guilt ran through him. The floor was no place for his femme, but then again, Sunstreaker was much more hurt than she. He was confident that she would have attempted to kill him had he left Sunstreaker bleeding on the floor while she was pain-free.

He moved to the doorway, gently shoving into the middle of the pack of his friends and allies. Everyone knew that there was a false sense of security that came with being in a pack. There was every chance that being in a big group would garner more attention than being in a small group. However, with two severely injured members, stealth was not an option. Instead, he and Jazz had decided on a hard and fast exit strategy. It had risks, but there was no better option.

They all broke into a jog, with two mechs helping Sunstreaker limp towards the exit. Sideswipe ignored the seizing of his muscle cables in his arms, concentrating solely on getting his mechs and his family to safety. Decepticons were coming out of the woodwork, flooding their group with gunfire. His mechs did well, providing distractions and returning fire. By the time they reached the blast doors, there were only a few burns and injuries between them.

Outside the doors, all pit had broken loose. Optimus and Megatron could be seen battling with their swords just to the side of the transport they had brought. All around them, mechs were falling and triumphing. Sideswipe ran for all he was worth to the ship, keeping himself as low to the ground as was possible.

He deposited Carina in the arms of Hound, who was in charge of keeping the interior of the ship clear of all threats. Sideswipe kissed the top of her helm, before turning on his heel, expecting to see Sunstreaker being placed in the ship. Horror filled him. He and Hound were the only two mechs on board the transport.

"Keep her safe!" He nearly screamed at Hound, before jumping down from the transport. He scanned the battlefield. Sunstreaker's paint job was as much a blessing as it was a curse. On the bright side, he was easy to spot. On the other hand, he was easy for the Decepticons to spot.

His optics scanned, finally seeing a flash of golden yellow on the ground, only a few hundred feet in front of him. Throwing all caution to the wind, Sideswipe ran as fast and hard as he could, reaching his brother in a few moments. Without slowing, Sideswipe scooped up his twin and turned, making a large turn, keeping up his momentum.

Many of the Autobots were now closing in on the transport, knowing that their objective had been met. The job was done. Mission was a success.

::Autobots, return to the ship.::

Optimus's voice had never been more soothing. Sideswipe gave over his brother as he met the other Autobots on the ship. Sunstreaker's fingers slid over his helm in a gesture of love, their sparks caressing one another. It was over.

Sideswipe braced, raising himself over the lip of the ship, as the ramp had already been stowed. Many other mechs were doing exactly as he was; they were the last mechs to board. After this, they were home free.

Heat blossomed over his back. His spark skipped a pulse. His grip slipped. The ship took off. Every mech above him lunged towards him, hands outstretched. His optics went dark. Fingers grazed his own. He smiled when those fingers were replaced with multiple pairs of hands. He fell into blissful unconsciousness with Ratchet screaming at him for being an 'arrogant, slag-headed, aft of a mechling.'

* * *

><p>"Long story short, all of you went into surgery." Ratchet sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. Moonracer placed her hand gently on his shoulder, comforting the medic with an air of grace and poise. They really were such a beautiful couple.<p>

"So, everyone's alright?" Carina asked, wanting to be sure that both of her mechs were alright. "Sunstreaker's sparkcase? Sideswipe's back?"

"All fine. Sunstreaker will have some scaring on his sparkcase. It's all cosmetic. Sideswipe will be a little delicate for a while. Most of his plating had to be replaced. He briefly went into shock, but that was probably more from stress than his injuries. Both are resting." Ratchet looked at her, his optics softening and dimming. Moonracer squeezed his shoulder.

She spoke. "Carina. You were shot in the abdomen. It wasn't that bad. At least, not at first." The tone of Moonracer's voice was soft, calm. But it had a little darkness to it. A twinge of sadness. Carina sat bolt upright, ignoring the weld and the pain in her side. This was going to be bad news.

"What?" Panic started to flood her once again. "What is it? I feel fine." She was babbling. Moonracer moved closer, sitting on the edge of her bed. It was meant to make her feel better, but it had the opposite effect.

"A femme's internals are very sensitive things, Carina. There was no way to know that you had damaged tubing." She placed her hand over Carina's own. "What I'm trying to say is that components were damaged. Components that are vital to your ability to split a spark…" Moonracer kept on talking, but static filled Carina's audios.

She wouldn't be able to split a spark. No sparklings. A rough sob escaped her. Before she had met the twins, she hadn't even thought about a sparkling. When she was with Onslaught, she had spent much time daydreaming about tiny sparklings with red and gold paint. She dreamt of sparking, giving life to another being.

Now it really was a dream.

* * *

><p>So...I love you all. Real life sucks, but look what I gave you. I hope you like it. It's not over yet. A couple more chapters to go. Let me know if you want to see it to the end. I'm not kidding when I say that the reviews I got helped me write. Knowing you all care makes me care. A special thanks to all those who reviewed the last chapter:<p>

Designation Drift, Blitz-Krazi-1, Azlyn The Mullet Zombie, Mercedes Wolfcry, Field Empathy, Bee4ever, Shelbyy, Tara, StarSwoop, lordoallinsanepeeps, akagami hime chan. You are all so awesome.

Also, thank you to Primus's Angel/Autobot Echo. Your PM made me realize that I needed to get up and write. Thank you.

*I don't know who came up with splitting a spark. Get at me if you know, and I'll credit them next chapter.*

Please drop me a line and let me know if you liked it. I eat reviews for breakfast. Seriously. I print them and eat them. Fiber is yummy. I'm also very tired and a little crazy. Luckily, with reviews, my crazy can be funneled into quality fanfiction.


	12. Chapter 12

A Time for Everything

Chapter 12

* * *

><p>"Come along, darling. It's right this way," Moonracer said, supporting Carina with an arm around her shoulders. "I will warn you. They are a little testy. They'll be happy when they see you, but I'm calling in Ratchet just in case. There's a fairly good chance that they might be rough. This will be the first time they've seen you since you were all under stress."<p>

They walked down the medbay halls, Carina's spark feeling heavy. She had never been under this much stress before in her entire life. Not even when Onslaught had her the first time. There were so many things that were in flux right now. From what she had been told, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were both recovering quickly, but would still need to be in the medbay for a while longer.

The ironic part of the story was that the longer they were in the medbay, the more they were likely to make Ratchet tear them limb from limb. Carina grinned to herself. At least the two of them were well enough to start grinding Ratchet's gears.

As they came upon Ratchet's office, the large mech stepped out. He looked directly over Carina's helm and locked optics with Moonracer. The two of them had obviously settled most of their problems. That was good. It gave her a sort of sick hope. If Ratchet was able to find love and a mate, then so could she. At least most of her problems were in the past. Ratchet was always going to be Ratchet.

"Carina. I have a little bit of news for you before you see the twin terrors. If you would…" Ratchet held out one arm, pointing her towards his office. Carina nodded, knowing that it would be too much strain on the medic if she said no. She was longing to see her mechs. The burn seated deep in her spark. But her logical side was well aware that the few moments Ratchet wanted her would make little difference.

Ratchet pulled out a chair for Moonracer and herself on the opposite side of his desk. They all seated themselves, Moonracer leaning forward and straightening a few piles of datapads and even going so far as to throw away a few old energon cubes. Anyone else who dared touch Ratchet's belongings, old and crusty as they may be, would be welded to a berth in seconds flat. But Moonracer, she was the exception. Their love for each other was palpable and Carina felt as though she was intruding.

"I've done some more research. I do not pretend to know everything there is to know about femme's reproductive systems. They are mysterious. What I do know," He turned, looking to Moonracer, who nodded. He paused, looking unsure of himself. "There is a chance that the synapse that was damaged can be replaced. It would take a replacement part, which could only come from a femme. It would also take a surgery that would be almost seven hours long."

Carina gasped, looking to Moonracer. Instead of looking overjoyed, the older femme had a dark shadow over her faceplates. Moonracer's lack of happiness stilled something inside of her. There was something Ratchet had yet to tell her. And by the looks of things, it was not going to be good.

"There's another portion of the surgery that would be very dangerous, Carina. I would have to attach the new line directly to your spark chamber. The odds of surviving that part of the procedure, by itself, is less than fifty percent. Altogether, the chance of survival is a little less than forty percent. The odds that a sparkling would come to term is also very small." Ratchet's optics dimmed, his shoulders drooped.

"We just thought that you should know," Moonracer said, laying her hand on top of Carina's own. "I just thought that if it was me, I'd want to know. Femmes want sparklings like we need energon. I'm so sorry if this news is unwelcome," Her voice broke slightly. "I would want to know. Know my chances."

Carina tried to smile for the other femme. She really did. But so much had happened to her. Her emotions had been on a roller coaster ride for the last few months. Falling in love with the twins, being abducted, facing her past and her future. It was too much. Did Primus have any love for her?

"I do want to know. I do. It'll just never happen," She managed a wry grin for the two Autobots in the room with her. "The twins are much too protective over me to allow me to go through that sort of surgery." She snorted a laugh. "There was a time when I would have just done it. To pit with the odds of survival. But now…now I have to think about more than just myself. I'll be bonding with the twins soon. It's a decision we would have to make as a unit. But I already know the answer."

Ratchet looked pensively at Carina, then shifted his gaze to his mate. "It is true that I would not allow Moonracer to undergo such a dangerous procedure. But what you have to remember is this, little one: a mech under the influence of his femme's love is very receptive to her needs. If you decide that it is the right thing to do, they might support you. But ultimately, it is your life, your sparkling's life. If you do decide to try for a sparkling, you would be bedridden. I would not allow you to leave the medbay. The sparkling could eventually kill you, Carina. Keep that in mind."

Moonracer squeezed her hand once more. Carina looked down at their hands. She had come so far from the femme she had been just a few months ago. Before landing on Earth, she'd been sullen and lonely. Taking jabs at mechs and femmes to keep them away, to protect herself. Now she was allowing another femme to touch her. She was talking about sparklings with a medic.

"I'm so sorry, Carina. I know that the numbers are dismal, but I wanted you to know that there was a chance." Moonracer looked at Carina. Her optics were deep blue, betraying her emotions. "You are so young. I couldn't bear the thought of you wanting a sparkling, thinking you could never have one. So I made Ratchet dig for more information. I just knew that if it was me, I would want to know the numbers, the possibility. No matter how small."

"Moonie. Enough, sweetspark." Ratchet's deep rumble consumed the office. His professional mask slipped, his love for his mate encompassing the room. Carina felt its warmth, basked in it a little. Ratchet was a good mech to his femmes. And if you were in the Autobot army, you were Ratchet's femme. However, his one true love was his Moonracer. And it showed.

"Sorry. Sorry. I'm so sorry."

Carina flipped her hand around on her lap, grasping the other femme's fingers and squeezing gently. It was time to stop shunning other people. It was time to open up. There was still room for her smart mouth, but there was no more room for her rudeness. For her open anger. That time was gone. It was time for all of them to heal.

"May I see my mechs now?" Her voice sounded so torn, so rough. She was tired, down to her very spark, and it reflected in her voice.

"Of course. I'll take you." Ratchet stood, moving around to pull back Carina's chair and pull her up. "Moonie, go home. I'll cover for you."

"Thank you, dearspark." She stood, wrapping a hand around the medic's forearm and giving him a kiss. "I'll see you later tonight."

The trio walked to the door and down the hall a little ways. It appeared that Ratchet was keeping the twins on the opposite end of the medbay from her own tiny room. She did not say anything to either of her medics, but she had no intention of spending any more nights alone in that little room. If Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were in good enough condition, she would recharge with them.

They bid goodbye to Moonracer as they reached the door that led to the rest of the Autobot base. She waved to the both of them. Ratchet placed his hand on the small of Carina's back, steering her towards her mechs. Her sparkbeat sped with each room they passed. She was going to get to see her mechs.

"We're expecting a sparkling." Ratchet's admission met her audios. Carina turned, slightly shocked. "I'm sorry to pile on with the sparkling talk, but I figured you should know why Moonie was acting so emotional." He turned his helm slightly towards her, giving her a small grin.

"I'm so sorry, Ratchet. I was so wrapped up in my own woe that I didn't even think…Congratulations! Have you told anyone else yet?" Her guilt piled on slightly. There was no reason for her to be so thick. Just because she'd been through the grinder did not mean that she could ignore the needs of her new friends.

"Ironhide and Optimus know. We're going to tell everyone else in a few more cycles." His hand tightened around her waist, pulling her to a stop. Carina looked up, realizing that she'd almost walked into a door. Her spark sped up again.

"Well. After you, femling." Ratchet's hand rested on the doorknob. Gently he pushed the door open, just a crack.

It was dark in the room. It was also cold. A slight shiver ran up her spinal struts. Ratchet patted her on the shoulder. "Go on, Sweetspark."

"But Moonracer said that you were coming in with me, in case they accidently hurt me." She whispered, not wanting either of the warriors inside the room to hear.

"Do you honestly believe that would ever harm you, intentionally or accidently?" He asked her seriously, optics darkening a touch.

"Never." She answered without thinking. She shuttered her optics quickly, not evn realizing that she had spoken aloud.

"Me either." He smiled at her, gently pushing the door open and nudging her inside.

Ratchet turned and left, closing the door behind him. Carina crept inside the darkened room, her optics lighting the way. With a quick glance around, she realized that it was one of the larger rooms, used when a big mech was in need of medical attention. Two berths were inside, both fairly small, but pushed fairly close together.

Carina smiled when her optics fell upon the two mechs she loved more than any others. They were in deep recharge, the sound of their venting was heavy in the air. One of Sideswipe's vents was squeaking with every intake. They were turned towards one another, almost touching. Sideswipe's arm was hanging off the edge of his berth, almost touching Sunstreaker's leg.

She crept forward, not wanting to disturb them. They looked so peaceful in recharge. The closer she got to the two mechs, the more her optics dimmed. The damage to their frames was terrifying. Sunstreaker's paintjob was completely ruined. His arms were full of scratches and dents. But it was his chassis that was worst of all. He was stripped down to primer. Little scorch marks covered him.

Her hands flew to cover her mouthplates. How had she missed his condition when they were kidnapped? She looked to Sideswipe, hoping that he looked a little better. Instead, her spark fell. His entire body was scorched, the burn markings looked much worse around his backplates.

She collapsed onto the end of Sunstreaker's berth, and buried her faceplates in her hands. They were in much worse condition than she was. She may be sparklingless, but her two mechs looked as though they had been through the grinder. A distressed noise escaped her before she could stop it. Weeks of stress and strain poured out of her. Her optics offlined and she let herself drown in her sorrows.

Creaking and the sound of metal scraping against metal rang throughout the room and strong hands wrapped themselves around her waist. Her optics onlined, helm lifting. Sunstreaker's strong faceplates were firmly in her own. His optics were shining almost fiercely, but the tenderness in his arms belied his ferocity.

"It's alright, Sweetspark. Everything is behind us now," He pressed a small kiss to the top her helm, then shifted and allowed his helm to rest lightly on her own. "Now it's just you, me and Swipe. We'll pull together."

"Is he okay?"

Both parties looked to the other mech. Sideswipe's vents were still squeaking, recharging peacefully. Sunstreaker moved his pede and gently tapped Sideswipe with the tip. The red mech snuffled slightly, before shifting and falling back into recharge.

"He's fine. Got a little shot up on the way out, but he's fine." Sunstreaker rubbed his face over her helm. "He'll try to milk it for all it's worth, playing the pity card. Just know that Ratchet's got the both of us under medical watch for at least a few weeks. No interfacing or anything stressful. But he'll try."

Carina giggled slightly. At least she could still interface. She would have been crushed if that was taken away from her, too. But Primus smiled down on her, at least a little. She'd be able to give them her innocence.

"I've missed you. I was so very worried about what Shockwave was doing to you." She leaned against him, trusting her mech to support her both physically and mentally.

"I was more worried about you. I'm just sorry that I didn't get to kill Onslaught myself." Sunstreaker's hands, which had been curled loosely around the edge of the berth, grasped the metal and crunched it.

"It's over now. He's dead. He can't touch us anymore."

"You're wrong."

He straightened, pulling away from her. Carina's very spark mourned the loss of his warmth, his support. Outwardly, she pulled away as well, more to get a better look at her mech than anything else.

Sunstreaker looked so…broken. It made her uncomfortable. He was always the strong one, the untouchable one. But there he was, sitting across from her, but looking like he was worlds away. His hands were fists in his lap, helm down, jaw stiff. It was so much like the Sunstreaker she first met, but this was more torment than hatred. It was similar, and yet so much different. More threatening.

"He's dead."

"He'll haunt you. I know he will. He'll haunt me." Sunstreaker looked over at her. "The things he said to me…I was so worried about you."

"Onslaught spoke with you?" The horror in her voice was palpable. The thought that Onslaught had taken time out of his day to go and see her lover while he was being tortured made her sick. Her tanks churned uneasily, the rest of her body curling in on herself.

"Yes. He came down to see me once Shockwave had figured out that you and I had a history together. I was weak. I broke down and cried out to you. No, I cried out for you. I was so worried that you'd be raped and killed. It made me so sick, knowing that I'd solidified their thoughts." Sunstreaker rubbed the finials on either side of his helm. His normally glowing paint job was still scratched and gruesome, lending to the worn look and feel of him.

"I don't know what to say." She croaked out the words. Panic threatened to grip her, but with that she had been through recently, her processor merely refused to get riled up. Instead, she grasped her legs with her arms and leaned against the wall behind her. Her helm fell to rest on her legs. She was the embodiment of defeat.

"He told me about your past."

The words hung in the air between them. Where Sideswipe's venting was funny and charming a few moments before, now it was an annoyance. She remained absolutely still. All the fight had drained out of her.

"He told me about your relationship. How much you loved him. How the two of you were going to spend the rest of your lives together." He fell silent, expelling massive amounts of air from his vents.

A spark of anger lit her circuits. How dare Sunstreaker take Onslaught's words without even hearing her own. How dare he. He had no idea what she'd been through. It was time to change that.

"Did he also tell you how he's almost raped me so many times? Did he tell you that he made me suck his spike to get my daily energon? Did he tell you that my recharge was secondary to his pleasure? Did he tell you that I was never allowed to have enough energon to feel optimal? Did he tell you that he used to shove his fingers up my valve and get angry when I wouldn't lubricate for him? Did he tell that, Sunstreaker? Did he?" By the end of her rant, her helm was raised high, her anger making her feel much larger and bolder than she had in many days.

"He did what?" The words spoken were so deadly, so quiet. It was then that both Sunstreaker and Carina looked over to the other berth in the room. Sideswipe was wide awake, propped up with his arms under his body. The position should have looked awkward, but his anger overrode any other perception.

Sideswipe's optics were nearly white. His entire body was shaking slightly. Carina's spark skipped a couple of pulses before stabilizing. If Ratchet believed that both of these mechs would never hurt her, then they wouldn't. But there was something primal in her fear response. This mech was a warrior. A real, true warrior. A mech who was used to tearing mechs apart with his own hands.

"Yes. He did all of that. I'm still technically a virgin. My pseudo mech-creator would have killed him if Onslaught had actually taken my virginity. But they all knew. All of them knew what he was doing to me. They had to have known. That's why I never smiled. Never laughed. Why I am the way I am. I could have survived Onslaught, but I couldn't survive all the betrayal in my life. I was given up by my real creators, and my adoptive ones couldn't have cared less about me." Her venting was short. Her anger was sating. Maybe getting all this off her chestplates was good for her.

"Now I don't know what to say." Sunstreaker's bright blue optics looked at her levelly, but there was a lack of pity in his optics. Instead, there was something that looked an awful lot like pride floating in those depths.

"We've had tough lives, too, 'Rina. It's all about how you recover. How you channel that anger and frustration and make something better of it." Sideswipe looked a little calmer now, but there was a lot more hurt in his optics than in Sunstreaker's. Perhaps there was a difference in how different 'Bots dealt with problems.

Sunstreaker reached for her then. He pulled her curled up body into his lap, cuddling her close. Sideswipe pulled his battered body off his berth and stumbled over to them. Sunstreaker shot him a warning look, obviously unhappy that his brother was hurting himself. But Sideswipe merely glared back. There was no way this healing was going to happen without him. They were a family. A broken, battered and somewhat pitiable family, but a family none the less.

Sideswipe situated himself, with his shoulders leaning against his brother's. It was a pose they had adopted over time, but now, with a femme curled up with them, it felt more intimate than ever. They were all silent for a good long while, optics all offlining at different times. Venting evened out, frames relaxed.

Finally, words rang out in the quiet room. In the peace, they seemed almost intrusive. "I'll try." Her words were muffled against Sunstreaker's chest plates. For the first time, she wished, truly longed, for a sparkbond with the two of them. If that was even possible. It looked as though she was going to have to ask Ratchet some more questions about how the three of them could enter into a regular relationship.

"So will we." Sideswipe said, speaking for the both of them. Sunstreaker's arms tightened around her form, reaffirming what Sideswipe said. They lay together for a while longer, soaking in each other's presence. Carina, for her part, pressed her face against her golden mech, familiarizing herself with the steady beat of his pump.

"I'm sorry, 'Rina. I should support you, instead of blaming you. You weren't ready to tell us that before all…this. I'm glad you finally told us what happened to you, though. It gives us a place to start. A place to start to heal. I'm just sorry that I forced you into coming clean. That part feels wrong." Sunstreaker said quietly, his beautiful voice echoing around the small room.

"I should have told you before. It must have been quite shocking to hear it from Onslaught. I'm the one who should be sorry." She said, nuzzling into his abdominal plating. She looked up at both of them, speculating. "Are you both alright?"

"We're fine. I have some painful burns, but nothing that can't be solved with some cooling gel rubbed in by some fine femme hands." Sideswipe offlined one optic quickly, winking at her. "Sunstreaker's problems are a little worse. His sparkcase is going to need a few weeks to heal itself, but Shockwave really didn't have enough time to do much." He smiled at her, lifting a large red hand and plopping it down on helm, petting her fondly.

Sunstreaker vented softly, his optics dimming. He looked downright ill. Carina was glad. The next question would have been, 'how are you?' That would have caused all of them a lot of grief. And she really didn't want to make them both angry again. Not with all the injuries they had between them. They needed a little time to heal. Time to cuddle.

"Can one of you two help me move the berths together? I think we could all use a little more recharge." She smiled up at her mechs, trying to be a little happy for them. Right now, it seemed like the world was ending, but she had to remind herself that she was here, with her two mechs. Everything might just be alright.

Together, the three of them pushed together the two berths and cuddled up with each other. As they settled down, Carina noticed that Ratchet opened the door just a little bit, peeked in and left. She smiled. She might not believe in Primus as devotedly as the others, but maybe, just maybe, Ratchet was sent by Primus to look after them all. Good thing that Moonracer was there to look after Ratchet.

Carina inhaled the scent of both of her mechs and sighed contentedly. If she could tell them about her sparkling problems without a meltdown and without losing them both, things would be okay. For tonight, everything was okay. She would deal all her problems in the morning. For the night, she would recharge in the arms of her loving mechs, with their arms wrapped around her protectively.

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><p>It's a tad short, but I tried to make it as realistic as possible. Please forgive any mistakes, it's three am here. Also, please review. I wrote this so quickly because I was so touched to receive ten reviews for the last chapter. It made me realize that people actually like this story, and that makes me want to write more and better. So, let's try for fifteen more this chapter. Let the painful healing process begin! I'm also tossing around an idea for a sequel, if people continue to review this story. Is anyone interested in continuing their adventures, or should I just let Carina, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe live their lives invisibly?<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

I'm alive. And back. I hope this chapter goes a little ways towards repairing my damage.

WARNING: A little dash of twincest, a lot of mature content. Please read responsibly. And enjoy it. I hope it's good. I've never written anything this long and explicit. It's also 3am. And this is poorly edited. Please be aware. And please review. I'm still typing. It should be better from here on out. I just had a rough patch.

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><p>Sideswipe simply would not shut up. It was a nervous tick that had been with him since they were sparklings. Therefore, Sunstreaker was used to simply blocking his brother's ranting and raving, joke telling and simple blatherings. Catrina, on the other hand, was much like the galaxy she was named after. She burned brightly, swift and powerful.<p>

And that was why they were all currently locked in the brig.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were in one cell and Carina was in the one to their right. Prowl thought that it would help them all cool off a little bit. (It was, literally, quite cool in there.) After all, the lovers were all still recovering from their injuries, both physical and mental. They didn't need any more.

Prowl was wrong. His battle computer might be absolutely amazing, but it knew nothing of love. Only of war.

"Sideswipe! If you do not shut the hell up in the next millisecond, I will throttle you again." Carina's lovely, sultry voice echoed through the empty brig. Sunstreaker looked to his brother, who was spread eagle on the floor of the cold cement floor, waxing poetic about how much he wanted to interface with the lovely femme in the cell beside him.

"I'll pin you up against the wall in the washracks, let all the other mechs and femmes see how passionate you are in pleasure. The way you writhe and call my name, Sunny's name. He'll slide up behind you, making sure you feel every last little inch of his body as he presses up against you." Sideswipe slid his own hand up his chestplates, teasing the little seams and bucking his hips up. He'd been running on a hard charge for a couple of breems, and there was likely to be a lot more, given his insatiability.

"Don't drag me in to your disgusting fantasies. She's my femme just as much as she is yours. I don't want to share her with everyone unless she wants to be shared." Sunstreaker grimaced, knowing that he'd just incited his brother into thinking that his fantasy was something worthy to be discussed. Which it really was not. At this point, Sunny was just happy that there wasn't a guard. The rumor mill needed nothing added to it. It was functioning fine without them.

"Ah, but it's not really sharing, Sunny. It's just letting everyone watch. That's totally different." Side's voice was starting to have a bit of a breathy quality to it, wonton on the floor. He was still experimenting with his chest plate. Sunstreaker, who was used to his twin feeling himself up, was a little intrigued by this new development. In the past, Sides would go straight to the point. As it were. His spike was always ready. And he meant always. It took nothing to get him revved.

But lately, there was a smoothness of his movements. He would tease himself. Work himself up a little more than usual. Foreplay hadn't been his strong point. But now…now that Carina was in the picture, he'd slowed down. It wasn't a race to overload, but instead it was a leisurely walk, ending in a glorious, mind blowing amount of transfluid being spilled.

Sunstreaker turned his helm towards Carina's cell, listening for any sign that she hadn't gotten tired of him and his brother and extinguished her own spark. It wouldn't have surprised him. Saddened him, yes. Surprised, no.

"Please, Sideswipe. Stop."

And just like that, Sideswipe stopped cold. His hands stopped moving. His breathing deepened and evened. His body relaxed into the floor, shifting his entire frame to the left, closer to the berth where Sunstreaker was. The concrete was probably cooler, and it was safer towards his twin. It always was. Sideswipe was quiet for a moment.

"Sorry."

Some days, that was best apology from Sideswipe. It was simple. It was peaceable. And it was usually sincere.

"It's okay," Her voice was quieter now, softer. "I just need to relax and recharge. I have a helm ache." There were a few seconds of silence from her, as well. Then a throaty chuckle. "And I'd like to at least interface with the two of you in the berth before we move on to the washracks."

::I knew she was kinkier than she let on::

::Shut up, Sideswipe::

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><p>Prowl came and sprung them from the brig in a few hours and the trio were on their way. Catrina was still uncharacteristically quiet and walked more slowly than usual. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe kept pace with her, making sure that they flanked her and protected her from everyone. After the capture, some of the mechs thought that she was damaged, fragile. They would rush up to her, asking her if she was okay, if she needed anything, etc. It wasn't that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe thought she was weak. No. It was for the protection of the mechs.<p>

Sideswipe could attest to that. He still had the scratches and nicks to boot.

So they walked in companionable silence, until they reached the door to their quarters. Carina was the one to step forward, enter the code and step into the room. The twins walked in shortly after, knowing that something big was going to happen. 'Rina was never this bothered. The last time she was this bad was right after she'd been released from the medical bay. And even that hadn't been this low. It was time for a chat.

Both twins sat on the berth, watching their femme pace the floor like Optimus. It was cute, watching something so small act like a mech so large. And when she got a little angry or upset, she would always turn and twitch her little noseplates, like a bug or something had landed on it. It was one of those little things she wasn't even aware of, but was so adorable.

So they relaxed, putting their frames up against the wall and waiting for Carina to say what she was going to say, or do what she was going to do. Sunstreaker groaned a little when he shifted to sit cross-legged. He was sore and some of the gears in his left knee were going to have to be replaced in the next couple of vorns. Sideswipe grinned over at him with all the youthful energy of the universe. Slagger. Acting like he was so young. He creaked too. In his recharge. But it wouldn't bother him to know so. Slagger.

All of a sudden, there was a flurry of movement, pulling the mech's attention towards the small femme clambering onto the berth. She wasn't graceful by any stretch of the processor, but she was absolutely beautiful. The way her plating shone, even though she didn't always polish like she should. Her optics were over bright, betraying her frayed state. There was no telling what she was worried about. She was a femme, after all. Their processors were as complex as Prowl's datapads.

But when she settled on top of Sunstreaker, his processor nearly stalled. He threw open his bond to his twin, needing to make certain that he was awake and alive. When Sideswipe's side of the bond was just as jumbled and needy as his own, he knew that this was actually happening. His femme was actually being a little adventurous. Carina was not the type of femme to climb onto a mech's lap just for fun and laughs. She wasn't Arcee.

Sideswipe moved swiftly, pressing his hip against his brothers, trapping Carina's leg between the two of theirs. She wasn't trapped by any means, but she certainly knew that there were two mechs pressing in on her. The twins had spoken about this moment more and more over the last few weeks, and they had come to the conclusion that Carina was probably a little more submissive than she let on. It was just a hunch. And one they were going to gently test.

Carina froze and looked between the two mechs. Her optics were so bright they were almost white, making her look ethereal. And very nervous. She was so stiff, joints locked in place, fingers clenching in midair, awkwardly hovering above Sunstreaker's chestplates.

"I want to interface with you." The moment the words left her vocalizer, she cringed. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe both sent each other waves of amusement over the bond, at loathe to let her know how funny and cute she really was, even if she was a little awkward. Sunstreaker let his hands rest on her hips, pulling her down more firmly onto him. He then starting rubbing tiny circles on her hips, trying to get her to relax a touch. Sideswipe sat up on his knees and hugged the femme, pulling her close to his frame, pulling her off balance and making her sink into Sunstreaker a little more.

"If you really insist." Sideswipe whispered in her audio, pulling her hand down to rest on his crotch plate, his spike smoothly sliding out into her palm before she'd fully understood what had happened. Sunstreaker sent him a shot of ire through the bond. So much for valuing foreplay. Sideswipe, in return, just smirked against the femme's throat, having moved on to gently kissing and sucking her neck and collar armor. Carina gently caressed the hard spike in her hand, smoothly gliding her small, soft palm up and down the length, squeezing a little.

Carina laughed and tilted her helm back, allowing Sideswipe all the room he needed to kiss and suckle on sensitive lines. "It's been a while since I've let a mech touch me. And I've never interfaced. Not properly." Sideswipe moved to press himself against her back, still working on her sensitive throat with his mouth. Carina reluctantly let his spike slip through her fingers, but not before giving him a squeeze that made his knee joints suddenly threaten to give out. Sunstreaker sat up straighter, pulling Carina closer, making sure that the trio were as close as they could possibly be.

"That's okay, 'Rina. We'll take care of you. Just give us all the trust you can muster, and we will take it from there." Sunstreaker murmured to her, just barely letting his lips graze hers as he spoke. She sank closer to him, trying to maintain the fleeting touches, but Sideswipe caught her game, pulling her back to him. She groaned, trapped so perfectly between the two mechs she loved.

Sideswipe placed a servo on her slender shoulder, sliding his hand along the joint, feeling the smooth metal under his fingers. Sunstreaker started using his talented mouth to tease the femme's chestplates, knowing it was a place she had probably never been touched. Given the jolt and shimmy she gave as his lips made contact with her Autobot symbol, she'd never been touched there.

When his glossa teased the tiny transformation seam, the femme bucked, inadvertently rubbing her port covering against his scorching hot crotch plating. He gave a little moan, knowing that the femme was probably not producing enough lubricant to even allow him to slide a finger in her valve. She was still too nervous.

Sideswipe growled into her audio, knowing that Sunstreaker was trying to outshine him. Sibling rivalry went a long way, even to the berth. He slid closer to the femme, allowing the hand that had been caressing her shoulder to slide down her arm, fingertips barely touching her metal. Once he reached her fingers, he entwined his with hers and pushed his ready and willing spike into their hands.

He guided her actions, pumping his spike with purpose, but still squeezing with just the right pressure right under the head. Carina moaned and threw her helm back onto his shoulder. In response, Sunstreaker wrapped a large hand around her thigh and began teasing the back of her knee. The femme thrashed, overcome with sensation, moaning sweetly and occasionally whimpering. It was stunning. But it was time for Sideswipe to up his game.

"Look at you, sweet femme. Splayed out on my brother, helpless to the pleasure. Listen to the sounds coming from you, those sweet little moans. What would everyone say if they knew what little, beautiful sounds the tough mechanic makes in the berth?" At that, the femme bucked down into Sunstreaker and squeezed Sideswipe's spike with gusto.

"I think she likes it when you talk to her, brother." Sunstreaker's rough gasp rang though the room, cutting through Carina's breathy whimpers and moans as the brothers continued to caress and explore her frame, slowly making their way down her frame. "I have to admit, I think I enjoy it also."

"You've always liked it, brother." Sideswipe murmured, watching his femme's optics flare and flicker as the twins explored her frame at their leisure. It was always a pleasure to explore a frame unused to pleasure. She was already rolling in ecstasy, the energy rolling through her frame was completely new to her. She had no idea how to relax into it, instead she felt every single tingle, every swipe of their glossa, every ghostly swipe of a hand. She had long since lost her grip on Sideswipe's spike, for which he was secretly grateful.

Sunstreaker made optic contact with Sideswipe and the two exchanged a look that contained a conversation. They both pressed close to their femme, slowly stopping their roaming hands and lingering glossa. Once Carina knew what was happening, she whimpered and clutched Sunstreaker's shoulder plating, trying to drag him and his magical mouth back to her chassis. Instead, Sunsteaker merely kissed her passionately, giving Sideswipe a few moments to move off the berth. When he had rolled off, Sunstreaker placed Carina on her back on the middle of the large berth.

With both mechs retreating from her, Carina sat up on her elbows, heat rolling off her frame in waves. Both twins were standing at the foot of the berth, staring at her with lust in their optics. Sunstreaker shifted, spreading his legs a little further apart. Sideswipe looked at him out of the corner of his optic, and his hand grasped his spike and began lazily pumping once again. Sunstreaker allowed his panel to retract, his own spike spilling from its confines. Watching Carina's optics follow the motions of Sideswipe's hands made Sunstreaker's already hard spike swell to the point of near pain. He too grasped his spike and pumped.

"Come here, Sweetspark. You need to get more acquainted with our spikes." Sunstreaker purred, watching the femme rise from her prostrated position on the berth up onto all fours and climb towards the pair. He smiled when he saw that some lavender lubricant was already beginning to bead and pool outside of her panel. Even though she had never been taken, it was good to know that she desired them.

Sideswipe must have noticed as well, because he moaned and let his helm tilt backward. "Femme, you're going to kill me with that lubricant. I'm going to lick it all up. All of it." Carina blinked, and if a transformer could blush, Sunstreaker had no doubts that their little femme would have been the color of Hot Rod by the time she reached the end of the berth.

Both mechs stilled as she approached. They stopped caressing their spikes, allowing the femme to look, touch and taste as she liked. Carina spent a good few seconds just looking. Sunstreaker's spike was thicker, but still long enough to be respectable. Sideswipe was longer, but thinner. They were both beautiful, with the nodes sticking out just enough to make her valve clench. They would feel amazing inside of her, she was certain. Another gush of lubricant rushed out of her closed panel, trickling down her leg. Of course both of the mechs noticed, moaning. Sideswipe actually had to squeeze the base of his spike with some amount of force to keep himself from spilling.

Carina reached out with both hands and tested the weight of the spikes. They were both running hot, the metal smooth under her hand. She teased them both, lost in the fantasy of how they would feel inside of her. Soon, that fantasy would become a reality. Her hungry valve clenched upon itself, and she desperately wanted to sink her fingers inside of herself, tease her seal and maybe bring herself to overload. But her hands were already full, so she settled with licking the head of Sunstreaker's spike. Both mechs moaned, and she knew that they were sharing over their bond. A little trickle of jealousy settled in her own spark. She wanted to be bonded to them.

But the jealousy faded quickly as Sideswipe offered her his spike. It was almost cute, seeing such a boisterous mech be a little shy, a little unsure of himself. Of course, she liked along his length, unsurprised to see the little bit of transfluid gathered at the end. She licked it up, savoring the scent and taste, before taking more of him into her mouth. When her optics flickered up to his own, Sideswipe groaned deeply, rocked forward and grasped her audios and spilled his transfluid down her throat without so much as a warning. All the while, he was talking to her, telling her how beautiful she was, how much he loved her. She would have liked a little warning.

But what really took her by surprise was Sunstreaker telling her he was going to overload, and then doing so. His transfluid hit her thighs, covering her with the sticky blue fluid. It was pleasantly warm, and at least he warned her before just doing it. Their bond must be extremely deep for one's overload to affect the other so profoundly.

Her valve chose that moment to remind her that it was completely empty. Sideswipe pulled away from her mouth, leaving her to swallow all the transfluid left behind. He apologized for a moment, before kissing her and then tackling her down to the berth. She let herself relax, knowing that they would both take care of her. And they did. Sideswipe kissed down her stomach, while Sunstreaker kissed up from her knee. They both met at her panel.

Their glossas were so hot and wet, and it felt amazing against her panel. She realized now how mechs could lose themselves to an overload so quickly and completely. They lapped up all the lubricant that had leaked onto her panel, making certain that they delved into all the tiny seams and teased the tiny gears. It was all she could do to hang on, her hands were on the back of their helms, making sure that they were working at pleasuring her. It was all she could think about. All she knew. The rest of her world had just vanished.

After all the lubricant had gone, Sunstreaker's hand gently caressed her panel with the backs of his fingers, gently asking for entry. Carina froze, knowing that there was no turning back after this. Fear flashed through her, but she gathered her courage and opened her valve covering. Both mechs fell on her like starving mechs to an energon dispenser. They never interrupted one another, never seemed to compete for space. Carina pitied femmes who only had one mech. They would never know such complete bliss.

Sideswipe was using his glossa like a mini spike, tracing the nodes in her valve, making more lubricant gush out. Which Sunstreaker gratefully accepted. He was busy tormenting her exterior node, making her crazy with lust. Her entire body was tightening, and the hand Sideswipe had placed on her stomach plating wasn't helping her situation. Right when she thought the dam was about to burst, they both pulled back. She nearly screamed! Whatever came out of her vocalizer was not pleasant. But they had denied her overload! She'd let them both spill in her mouth and on her leg.

But as Sunstreaker climbed onto her, ready to spike her, she froze. His thighs were on either side of hers, and his body was sinking lower as he climbed higher. Sideswipe had moved up the berth to sit by her helm, his own spike lazily sitting half-erect on his thigh. It was at the prefect level for her to lick, if she got the urge. And she might, if he kept looking that amazing.

"Are you ready?" Sunstreaker asked in the quiet of the room. "There's no going back after this, Carina. After this, we are all together. Always. You know our faults. Do you accept them? Do you accept us? Do you want us inside of you?" His spike was at her entrance, the hardness and hotness of him was tantalizing. As if she could have any other answer with him right there, ready to take her. To fill her with his transfluid.

"Yes. I am ready." She looked him dead in the optics, then turned and looked at Sideswipe. Swipe offered her his hand, and she took it, pulling it towards her faceplate and pressing a kiss to it. He squeezed, smiling down at her, before looking at Sunstreaker and nodding.

Sunstreaker leaned forward and began pressing in. It was then that Carina knew why Sideswipe had offered his hand. It was not because he was being cute. He was offering her a way to exercise her pain. And there was pain. Sunny tried kissing her, but even that wasn't enough to distract her. When he broke through the seal, there was a sharp pain and then just a sensation. He stayed seated for a moment, pressing another kiss to her lips. She responded this time, easing her grip on Sideswipe.

Sideswipe guided her hand down to his spike, which she took and began lazily petting. His pleasure was still important. And she was going to be with these mechs a very long time. Pain was temporary. Pleasure is forever.

And then…Sunstreaker started moving. Her overload began from her spark, or so it seemed. It was more intense than the overloads she had teased herself into with her fingers. It was more intimate, which was part of what made it seem so much more intense. Sunstreaker made his thrusts deeper, nibbling at her neck, while Sideswipe slipped his hand between them and manipulated her node. She bucked her hips, feeling the burn of the overload beginning, along with the remnants of the pain.

Sideswipe leaned over her, grabbed Sunstreaker's helm and kissed his brother with as much passion as he kissed her with. The sight made her valve clench, and then she plunged into an overload. Lights exploded in her vision, her CPU alerted her to vents shutting down. It was glorious. And she nearly passed out.

Sunstreaker grabbed her hips, pulling her up to him. He made optic contact with her, moaned her name and then shot his transfluid into her. It was so hot and so amazing. She whimpered, feeling the remnants push back out of her valve and spill onto the berth. He stilled, kissed her and gave her a quick nibble on the neck, before Sideswipe threw him off.

Sideswipe grinned boyishly at her. "Don't worry, Sweetspark. I'll be quick. That was amazingly hot. I really want to lick all that lubricant and transfluid out of your valve, but I need to add mine to it first." And with that, he slid deep inside of her in one thrust. She stiffened, still a little sore. They would have to wait a few days before they took part in interfacing again.

Sideswipe's spike was longer, and it kept hitting something in the back of her valve. It felt amazing. There must have been a node back there that had never been touched before, because of her seal. The pressure started building. Her breath hitched every time he thrust hard enough to reach the node. Which was almost every time.

"Oh, yeah, 'Rina. I can feel your valve tighten. Overload for me one more time, my femme. Please." It was really the 'please' that did it, not the fact that Sunstreaker was kissing her senseless, or that Sideswipe's spike was hitting her sweet spot over and over. But overload she did. And he followed quickly on her heels, adding his transfluid to his brother's.

When she re-gained awareness, both mechs were using their glossa to clean her lubricant and transfluid from her sore valve. To her surprise, they had a jar of some sort of valve soothing paste. They both applied it so tenderly that it brought her to the edge of an emotional breakdown. They also cleaned her with real cleanser, making sure that she was clean and comfortable before all three lay down to recharge together. Carina was already getting eminate shutdown warnings in her HUD, so she quickly settled down with her mechs. She could get used to this whole love-interfacing-cuddles thing.

"I can't ever have sparklings."

Two sets of optics onlined and looked down at the femme between them, who was already in recharge.


End file.
